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A climatology of Antarctic sea ice extent based on 20 years of data (1973–1992) is presented, including measures of interannual variability and extrema. In the first half of the year the greatest variability is found in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in the Weddell and Ross Sea regions, while in the second semester the variability displays a considerable degree of zonal symmetry.

We have used this dataset to explore the possible links between Antarctic sea ice extent and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). To do this we have calculated their correlation for all pairings of calendar months, as well as with the SOI taken from the year before and subsequent to that of the time of the sea ice data. Most of the correlations assume their largest magnitude when the SOI leads the anomalies in the sea ice, but these differ considerably between the three ocean basins. The extent of Indian Ocean sea ice in the …