Tutorial Page 14-14 Sea ice is both an oceanographic and a meteorological feature.
Satellites are almost the only convenient way to monitor ice accumulations in the polar regions.
Satellites with high resolution sensors can also detect icebergs. Our final look at satellite use in oceanographic monitoring concerns sea ice, which normally occurs year round in the polar regions but to varying extents. Polar orbiting satellites repeatedly pass near the poles on a daily cycle. Visible and radar imagery is effective in observing sea ice on a continual basis. Below is a SIR-C multiband color composite that shows ice in the Weddell Sea, off Antarctica, south of the Atlantic Ocean.