PASADENA, Calif. - NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., will hold a media teleconference on Monday, April 6, at 8 a.m. PDT (11 a.m. EDT), to present the latest observations of sea ice conditions in the Arctic.

Sea ice cover over the Arctic Ocean typically reaches its maximum geographic extent and thickness just as spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere. In 30 years of satellite measurements of sea ice, the six smallest wintertime measurements all have occurred since 2004. Scientists also have observed that ice thickness and age are changing. They will present their analyses of Arctic ice cover for the 2008-2009 winter season at the briefing.

The teleconference participants are:

- Ronald Kwok, research scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

- Walter Meier, cryosphere scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado

- Thomas Wagner, cryosphere program manager, NASA Headquarters, Washington

To participate in the teleconference, reporters must contact Steve Cole at 202-358-0918 or stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov for dial-in instructions no later than 2 p.m. PDT (5 p.m. EDT) on April 3. Supporting information for the briefing will be available on April 6 at 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT) at: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/seaice_status09.html . Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's Web site at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio .

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.