SHEBA Arctic Reconnaissance Imagery from 1997-1998

Optical band reconnaissance imagery of the Surface Heat Balance of the Arctic (SHEBA) site was acquired between August 1997 and October 1998. Images cover a variable area of approximately 15 km by 40 km at a 1-meter resolution, with some containing the Canadian icebreaker Des Groseillers. The dataset is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing sea ice morphology and floe distribution using 1-meter resolution optical imagery.
• Tracking the position and environmental context of the SHEBA experiment platform (icebreaker Des Groseillers).
• Studying changes in the Arctic surface over a 14-month observational period for climate research.
• Providing ground-truth or contextual imagery for calibrating coarser-resolution satellite data.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution (~1 m) optical imagery for detailed surface observation.
• Covers a significant time range of over 14 months (August 1997 to October 1998).
• Imagery area is substantial, on the order of 15 km by 40 km per capture.
• Dataset presence across multiple government platforms signals its established scientific importance.

Limitations

• Specific image count, file sizes, and total dataset volume are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one lists 2026-03 12 (likely a metadata update), while another lists 1998 10 03 (the data collection end date).
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Acquired via optical band reconnaissance imagery.

Time Range

August 1997 to October 1998

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:29:20.606382

Geography

Arctic Ocean, centered on the SHEBA site and the track of the icebreaker Des Groseillers.