Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) provide data on the area of sea ice in Canada during the summer season. The data, produced by Environment and Climate Change Canada, is derived from the Canadian Ice Service Digital Archive and is expressed in thousands or millions of square kilometres. Indicators cover Northern Canadian Waters, sub-regions, and the Northwest Passage, presenting trends for total and multi-year ice area.
Use Cases
- Tracking long-term sea ice decline based on total ice area trends mentioned in the description
- Analyzing the distribution of persistent ice based on multi-year sea ice area data
- Comparing regional ice coverage based on data provided for sub-regions and the Northwest Passage
- Modeling climate change impacts on Arctic navigation routes based on sea ice area indicators
Strengths
- Data is sourced from the authoritative Canadian Ice Service Digital Archive
- Includes distinct metrics for both total sea ice area and multi-year ice area
- Provides geographic breakdown for Northern Canadian Waters, sub-regions, and the Northwest Passage
- Available in multiple formats including CSV data tables and interactive maps
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the open_canada source, focusing solely on Canadian waters
Provenance
- Source
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Collection Method
- Evaluated using the Canadian Ice Service Digital Archive
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-01 20:52:27.269409; freshness should be verified
- Geography
- Northern Canadian Waters, including sub-regions and the Northwest Passage