U.S. National Ice Center Daily Marginal Ice Zone Maps

Marginal ice zone data products from the U.S. National Ice Center define the dynamic boundary between open ocean and dense pack ice as ice concentrations between 10% and 80%. This time series provides daily coverage for both polar regions, starting in September 2004 for the Arctic and January 2010 for the Antarctic. The dataset is produced by the USNIC and distributed by the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal and interannual variability in the extent and location of the marginal ice zone.
• Validating sea ice concentration models against an operational ice chart product.
• Studying the relationship between wave penetration and ice melt at the ice-ocean boundary.
• Investigating differences in marginal ice zone behavior between the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent, operationally-produced definition of the marginal ice zone based on World Meteorological Organization standards.
• Offers a multi-decade time series, with Arctic data spanning from September 2004 onward.
• Covers both polar hemispheres, enabling comparative studies of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not documented on the source platforms.
• Sources conflict on license information, with some specifying 'other-license-specified' and others listing 'None'.

Provenance

Source

U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC)

Collection Method

Operational analysis and rendering of satellite and other data to define the marginal ice zone band.

Time Range

September 2004 to present (Arctic); January III 2010 to present (Antarctic)

Freshness

2026-03-12 20:35:14.929978

Geography

Arctic and Antarctic regions