Sea Ice Thickness and Draft Statistics from Submarine and Moored Sonar

Estimates of mean sea-ice thickness and draft in meters are derived from three sources: submarine-mounted Upward Looking Sonar (ULS), moored ULS, and a simulated ice-thickness model. The dataset provides a 26-year record from 1979 to 2004, covering two regions centered around the North Pole. It is produced by the NSIDCV0 organization.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal trends in Arctic sea-ice thickness from 1979 to 2004.
• Comparing ice draft measurements from submarine and moored sonar instruments.
• Validating and calibrating coupled sea-ice and ocean model simulations.
• Assessing regional variability in sea-ice properties across the North Pole.

Strengths

• Data integrates three distinct measurement sources: submarine ULS, moored ULS, and model simulations.
• Provides a long-term temporal record spanning 26 years (1979-2004).
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov indicates established importance and curation.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates: one source reports 2026-03-12, another reports 2004-12-31.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and complete column names are not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

NSIDCV0

Collection Method

Computed from Upward Looking Sonar (ULS) on submarines and moorings, and a simulated ice-thickness model.

Time Range

1979 to 2004

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:56:06.125594

Geography

Two regions centered around the North Pole.