Arctic Sea Ice Drifter GPS Tracks from Alaska Coast

PacificGyre IceTrackers provide GPS tracks from 25 prototype drifters deployed on sea ice along the Alaskan Arctic coast. Deployments occurred in spring 2015 and March 2017 on various ice types near Barrow and in Harrison Bay, with transmissions continuing for over two years for some units. The dataset, managed by NOAA NCEI, captures ice and water movement with sampling intervals ranging from 10 minutes to 12 hours.

Use Cases

• Analyzing sea ice drift patterns and residence times using sequential GPS positions.
• Studying the breakup and movement of landfast ice versus multi-year ice by comparing tracks from different deployment clusters.
• Validating satellite-derived ice motion products with in-situ GPS tracker trajectories.
• Assessing the longevity and failure modes of tracking hardware in extreme polar conditions.

Strengths

• Includes long-duration tracks, with one unit transmitting for over 2 years from April 2015 to May 2017.
• Covers multiple ice types and regions with deployments on first-year ice, multi-year ice, landfast ice, and in lagoons.
• Provides high-resolution temporal data with sampling rates as frequent as every 10 minutes during certain periods.

Limitations

• Specific column names and the total number of data rows are unknown from available sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2017-09-27 and 2026-03-05), casting doubt on maintenance.
• Deployment methods varied, including some units being dropped from a helicopter, which may have affected initial data or unit integrity.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI / PacificGyre Inc.

Collection Method

GPS positions relayed via Iridium satellite from drifters deployed via helicopter or snow machine.

Time Range

2015-03-26 to 2017-09-27

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:09:07.643590

Geography

Nearshore Alaskan Arctic coast, including areas north of Barrow, Harrison Bay in the Beaufort Sea, and Elson Lagoon.