Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Measurements from 1879 to 2016

On-ice sea ice thickness measurements were collected from 50 expeditions using auger drills, cores, gauges, thermistor strings, and surface electromagnetic induction. The dataset spans a long historical period from 1879 to 2016, assembled from journal articles, reports, databases, and direct investigator contact. The data is curated by the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal trends in sea ice thickness using the measurement date column.
• Comparing ice thickness measurements across different Arctic regions using location data.
• Validating satellite-derived sea ice thickness estimates with in-situ ground truth data.
• Studying the relationship between snow depth and ice thickness where both measurements are available.

Strengths

• Contains measurements from 50 distinct scientific expeditions, providing broad spatial coverage.
• Covers an exceptionally long time range of over 137 years, from 1879 to 2016.
• Data is compiled from multiple authoritative sources including peer-reviewed journal articles and direct investigator contributions.

Limitations

• Specific row count, file size, and complete column names are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last update date, listing both 2016-09-29 and 2026-03 12.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms.

Provenance

Source

National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Collection Method

Assembled from journal articles, reports, online databases, and direct contact with sea ice investigators.

Time Range

1879 to 2016

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:43:31.397714

Geography

Arctic region.