Canadian Ice Service Arctic Sea Ice Charts in SIGRID-3 Format

Manual analysis of in situ, satellite, and aerial reconnaissance data produces these digital sea ice charts. Charts contain information on ice concentration, stage of development, and ice form, following World Meteorological Organization terminology. The digital record begins in 2006 and covers Northern and Southern Canadian waters.

Use Cases

• Marine navigation planning using ice concentration and form data.
• Climate trend analysis of sea ice development stages from 2006 onward.
• Forecasting model validation with manually analyzed regional ice charts.
• Research on Arctic and Great Lakes cryosphere changes.

Strengths

• Charts are created through manual analysis by the Canadian Ice Service, ensuring expert interpretation.
• Data follows standardized World Meteorological Organization terminology for ice characteristics.
• Temporal coverage provides a continuous record starting from 2006.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on license information, with one specifying 'other-license-specified' and another listing 'None'.

Provenance

Source

Canadian Ice Service (CIS), distributed via NSIDCV0.

Collection Method

Manual analysis of in situ, satellite, and aerial reconnaissance data.

Time Range

2006 to present.

Freshness

2026-03-13 07:01:42.867302

Geography

Canadian Arctic regions: Northern Canadian waters (Western Arctic, Eastern Arctic, Hudson Bay) and Southern Canadian waters (Great Lakes, East Coast).