Spatiotemporal dynamics of sea ice volume and their potential drivers in Liaodong Bay, China, using Sentinel-3 data over five ice seasons

Global sea ice extent has notably decreased in recent decades due to climate warming. In non-polar seas, sea ice predominantly consists of first-year ice that exhibits complex spatiotemporal variability and heightened sensitivity to meteorological and geographical influences. This study examined the spatiotemporal dynamics of sea ice volume (SIV) using 72 Sentinel-3 images of Liaodong Bay, China over five ice seasons (2018/19–2022/23). The SIV ranged from 3.94 × 10⁷ m³ to 5.59 × 10⁸ m³ with peak values occurring in the second half of January or the first half of February. Although inter-annual variation in SIV showed no consistent pattern, the SIV in the second half of February remained consistently high, exceeding 2.7 × 10⁸ m³ each year. Over 90% of the sea ice occurred in the northeast Liaodong Bay, while the SIV in the southern regions was notably low. Furthermore, the SIV was significantly correlated with sea surface temperature, sunlight duration, offshore distance and water depth according to linear and quadratic polynomial regression models. These findings provide valuable insights into the SIV change patterns in a non-polar sea and offer a basis for future research and management related to sea ice in the Liaodong Bay and comparable non-polar regions.