Articles | Volume 17, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-423-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-423-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description paper
| 
05 Feb 2025
Data description paper |
| 05 Feb 2025
| 05 Feb 2025
A sea ice deformation and rotation rate dataset (2017–2023) from the Environment and Climate Change Canada automated sea ice tracking system (ECCC-ASITS)
Recherche en prévision numérique environnementale, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dorval, Quebec, Canada
Jean-François Lemieux
Recherche en prévision numérique environnementale, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dorval, Quebec, Canada
L. Bruno Tremblay
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Amélie Bouchat
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Damien Ringeisen
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Philippe Blain
Service Météorologique Canadien, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dorval, Quebec, Canada
Stephen Howell
Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, Canada
Mike Brady
Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, Canada
Alexander S. Komarov
Meteorological Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ottawa, Canada
Béatrice Duval
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Lekima Yakuden
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Frédérique Labelle
Recherche en prévision numérique environnementale, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dorval, Quebec, Canada
Related authors
Jean-Francois Lemieux, Mathieu Plante, Nils Hutter, Damien Ringeisen, Bruno Tremblay, Francois Roy, and Philippe Blain
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3831, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3831, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice models simulate angles between cracks that are too wide compared to observations. Ringeisen et al. argue that this is due to the flow rule which defines the fracture deformations. We implemented a non-normal flow rule. This flow rule also leads to angles that are too wide. This is a consequence of deformations that tend to align with the grid. Nevertheless, this flow rule could be used to optimize deformations while other parameters could be used to modify landfast ice and ice drift.
Mathieu Plante, Jean-François Lemieux, L. Bruno Tremblay, Adrienne Tivy, Joey Angnatok, François Roy, Gregory Smith, Frédéric Dupont, and Adrian K. Turner
The Cryosphere, 18, 1685–1708, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1685-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1685-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use a sea ice model to reproduce ice growth observations from two buoys deployed on coastal sea ice and analyze the improvements brought by new physics that represent the presence of saline liquid water in the ice interior. We find that the new physics with default parameters degrade the model performance, with overly rapid ice growth and overly early snow flooding on top of the ice. The performance is largely improved by simple modifications to the ice growth and snow-flooding algorithms.
Mathieu Plante and L. Bruno Tremblay
The Cryosphere, 15, 5623–5638, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5623-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5623-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We propose a generalized form for the damage parameterization such that super-critical stresses can return to the yield with different final sub-critical stress states. In uniaxial compression simulations, the generalization improves the orientation of sea ice fractures and reduces the growth of numerical errors. Shear and convergence deformations however remain predominant along the fractures, contrary to observations, and this calls for modification of the post-fracture viscosity formulation.
Jean-François Lemieux, L. Bruno Tremblay, and Mathieu Plante
The Cryosphere, 14, 3465–3478, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3465-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3465-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice pressure poses great risk for navigation; it can lead to ship besetting and damages. Sea ice forecasting systems can predict the evolution of pressure. However, these systems have low spatial resolution (a few km) compared to the dimensions of ships. We study the downscaling of pressure from the km-scale to scales relevant for navigation. We find that the pressure applied on a ship beset in heavy ice conditions can be markedly larger than the pressure predicted by the forecasting system.
Mathieu Plante, Bruno Tremblay, Martin Losch, and Jean-François Lemieux
The Cryosphere, 14, 2137–2157, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2137-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2137-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We study the formation of ice arches between two islands using a model that resolves crack initiation and propagation. This model uses a damage parameter to parameterize the presence or absence of cracks in the ice. We find that the damage parameter allows for cracks to propagate in the ice but in a different orientation than predicted by theory. The results call for improvement in how stress relaxation associated with this damage is parameterized.
Noemie Planat, Carolina Olivia Dufour, Camille Lique, Jan Klaus Rieck, Claude Talandier, and L. Bruno Tremblay
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3527, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3527, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Ocean Science (OS).
Short summary
Short summary
We detect and track mesoscale eddies in the Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean and describe their spatio-temporal characteristics in a high resolution pan-Arctic model. Results show eddies of typical size 12 km, lasting 10 days and travelling 11 km, with roughly an equal number of cyclones and anticyclones detected. Seasonal, decadal and interannual changes of the number of eddies detected show strong correlations with the ice cover, and with the mean circulation of the basin.
Benoit Montpetit, Julien Meloche, Vincent Vionnet, Chris Derksen, Georgina Wooley, Nicolas R. Leroux, Paul Siqueira, J. Max Adams, and Mike Brady
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2317, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2317, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents the workflow to retrieve snow water equivalent from radar measurements for the future Canadian radar satellite mission, TSMM. The workflow is validated by using airborne radar data collected at Trail Valley Creek, Canada, during winter 2018–19. We detail important considerations to have in the context of an Earth Observation mission over a vast region such as Canada. The results show that it is possible to achieve the desired accuracy for TSMM, over an Arctic environment.
Stephen Howell, Alex Cabaj, David Babb, Jack Landy, Jackie Dawson, Mallik Mahmud, and Mike Brady
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2029, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2029, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
The Northwest Passage provides a shorter transit route connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean but ever-present sea ice has prevented its practical navigation. Sea ice area in the northern route of the Northwest Passage on September 30, 2024 fell to a minimum of 4x103 km2, the lowest ice area observed since 1960. This paper describes the unique processes that contributed to the record low sea ice area in the northern route of the Northwest Passage in 2024.
Gavin A. Schmidt, Kenneth D. Mankoff, Jonathan L. Bamber, Dustin Carroll, David M. Chandler, Violaine Coulon, Benjamin J. Davison, Matthew H. England, Paul R. Holland, Nicolas C. Jourdain, Qian Li, Juliana M. Marson, Pierre Mathiot, Clive R. McMahon, Twila A. Moon, Ruth Mottram, Sophie Nowicki, Anne Olivé Abelló, Andrew G. Pauling, Thomas Rackow, and Damien Ringeisen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1940, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1940, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The impact of increasing mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets has not so far been included in historical climate model simulations. This paper describes the protocols and data available for modeling groups to add this anomalous freshwater to their ocean modules to better represent the impacts of these fluxes on ocean circulation, sea ice, salinity and sea level.
Jean-Francois Lemieux, Mathieu Plante, Nils Hutter, Damien Ringeisen, Bruno Tremblay, Francois Roy, and Philippe Blain
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3831, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3831, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice models simulate angles between cracks that are too wide compared to observations. Ringeisen et al. argue that this is due to the flow rule which defines the fracture deformations. We implemented a non-normal flow rule. This flow rule also leads to angles that are too wide. This is a consequence of deformations that tend to align with the grid. Nevertheless, this flow rule could be used to optimize deformations while other parameters could be used to modify landfast ice and ice drift.
Igor A. Dmitrenko, Vladislav Petrusevich, Andreas Preußer, Ksenia Kosobokova, Caroline Bouchard, Maxime Geoffroy, Alexander S. Komarov, David G. Babb, Sergei A. Kirillov, and David G. Barber
Ocean Sci., 20, 1677–1705, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-1677-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-1677-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The diel vertical migration (DVM) of zooplankton is one of the largest species migrations to occur globally and is a key driver of regional ecosystems. Here, time series of acoustic data collected at the circumpolar Arctic polynya system were used to examine the annual cycle of DVM. We revealed that the formation of polynya open water disrupts DVM. This disruption is attributed to a predator avoidance behavior of zooplankton in response to higher polar cod abundance attracted by the polynya.
Colleen Mortimer, Lawrence Mudryk, Eunsang Cho, Chris Derksen, Mike Brady, and Carrie Vuyovich
The Cryosphere, 18, 5619–5639, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5619-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5619-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Ground measurements of snow water equivalent (SWE) are vital for understanding the accuracy of large-scale estimates from satellites and climate models. We compare two types of measurements – snow courses and airborne gamma SWE estimates – and analyze how measurement type impacts the accuracy assessment of gridded SWE products. We use this analysis to produce a combined reference SWE dataset for North America, applicable for future gridded SWE product evaluations and other applications.
Jean-François Lemieux, William H. Lipscomb, Anthony Craig, David A. Bailey, Elizabeth C. Hunke, Philippe Blain, Till A. S. Rasmussen, Mats Bentsen, Frédéric Dupont, David Hebert, and Richard Allard
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 6703–6724, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-6703-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-6703-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present the latest version of the CICE model. It solves equations that describe the dynamics and the growth and melt of sea ice. To do so, the domain is divided into grid cells and variables are positioned at specific locations in the cells. A new implementation (C-grid) is presented, with the velocity located on cell edges. Compared to the previous B-grid, the C-grid allows for a natural coupling with some oceanic and atmospheric models. It also allows for ice transport in narrow channels.
Benoit Montpetit, Joshua King, Julien Meloche, Chris Derksen, Paul Siqueira, J. Max Adam, Peter Toose, Mike Brady, Anna Wendleder, Vincent Vionnet, and Nicolas R. Leroux
The Cryosphere, 18, 3857–3874, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3857-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3857-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper validates the use of free open-source models to link distributed snow measurements to radar measurements in the Canadian Arctic. Using multiple radar sensors, we can decouple the soil from the snow contribution. We then retrieve the "microwave snow grain size" to characterize the interaction between the snow mass and the radar signal. This work supports future satellite mission development to retrieve snow mass information such as the future Canadian Terrestrial Snow Mass Mission.
Stephen E. L. Howell, David G. Babb, Jack C. Landy, Isolde A. Glissenaar, Kaitlin McNeil, Benoit Montpetit, and Mike Brady
The Cryosphere, 18, 2321–2333, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2321-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2321-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The CAA serves as both a source and a sink for sea ice from the Arctic Ocean, while also exporting sea ice into Baffin Bay. It is also an important region with respect to navigating the Northwest Passage. Here, we quantify sea ice transport and replenishment across and within the CAA from 2016 to 2022. We also provide the first estimates of the ice area and volume flux within the CAA from the Queen Elizabeth Islands to Parry Channel, which spans the central region of the Northwest Passage.
Antoine Savard and Bruno Tremblay
The Cryosphere, 18, 2017–2034, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2017-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2017-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We include a suitable plastic damage parametrization in the standard viscous–plastic (VP) sea ice model to disentangle its effect from resolved model physics (visco-plastic with and without damage) on its ability to reproduce observed scaling laws of deformation. This study shows that including a damage parametrization in the VP model improves its performance in simulating the statistical behavior of fracture patterns. Therefore, a damage parametrization is a powerful tuning knob.
Mathieu Plante, Jean-François Lemieux, L. Bruno Tremblay, Adrienne Tivy, Joey Angnatok, François Roy, Gregory Smith, Frédéric Dupont, and Adrian K. Turner
The Cryosphere, 18, 1685–1708, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1685-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1685-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use a sea ice model to reproduce ice growth observations from two buoys deployed on coastal sea ice and analyze the improvements brought by new physics that represent the presence of saline liquid water in the ice interior. We find that the new physics with default parameters degrade the model performance, with overly rapid ice growth and overly early snow flooding on top of the ice. The performance is largely improved by simple modifications to the ice growth and snow-flooding algorithms.
Oreste Marquis, Bruno Tremblay, Jean-François Lemieux, and Mohammed Islam
The Cryosphere, 18, 1013–1032, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1013-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1013-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a standard viscous–plastic sea-ice model based on the numerical framework called smoothed particle hydrodynamics. The model conforms to the theory within an error of 1 % in an idealized ridging experiment, and it is able to simulate stable ice arches. However, the method creates a dispersive plastic wave speed. The framework is efficient to simulate fractures and can take full advantage of parallelization, making it a good candidate to investigate sea-ice material properties.
Vigan Mensah, Koji Fujita, Stephen Howell, Miho Ikeda, Mizuki Komatsu, and Kay I. Ohshima
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2492, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2492, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
We estimated the volume of freshwater released by sea ice, glaciers, rivers, and precipitation into Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea, and their changes over the past 70 years. We found that the freshwater volume has risen in Baffin Bay due to increased glacier melting, and dropped in the Labrador Sea because of the decline in sea ice production. We also infer that freshwater from the Arctic Ocean has been exported to our study region for the past 30 years, possibly as a result of global warming.
Damien Ringeisen, Nils Hutter, and Luisa von Albedyll
The Cryosphere, 17, 4047–4061, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4047-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4047-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
When sea ice is put into motion by wind and ocean currents, it deforms following narrow lines. Our two datasets at different locations and resolutions show that the intersection angle between these lines is often acute and rarely obtuse. We use the orientation of narrow lines to gain indications about the mechanical properties of sea ice and to constrain how to design sea-ice mechanical models for high-resolution simulation of the Arctic and improve regional predictions of sea-ice motion.
Isolde A. Glissenaar, Jack C. Landy, David G. Babb, Geoffrey J. Dawson, and Stephen E. L. Howell
The Cryosphere, 17, 3269–3289, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3269-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3269-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Observations of large-scale ice thickness have unfortunately only been available since 2003, a short record for researching trends and variability. We generated a proxy for sea ice thickness in the Canadian Arctic for 1996–2020. This is the longest available record for large-scale sea ice thickness available to date and the first record reliably covering the channels between the islands in northern Canada. The product shows that sea ice has thinned by 21 cm over the 25-year record in April.
Frédéric Dupont, Dany Dumont, Jean-François Lemieux, Elie Dumas-Lefebvre, and Alain Caya
The Cryosphere, 16, 1963–1977, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1963-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1963-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In some shallow seas, grounded ice ridges contribute to stabilizing and maintaining a landfast ice cover. A scheme has already proposed where the keel thickness varies linearly with the mean thickness. Here, we extend the approach by taking into account the ice thickness and bathymetry distributions. The probabilistic approach shows a reasonably good agreement with observations and previous grounding scheme while potentially offering more physical insights into the formation of landfast ice.
Stephen E. L. Howell, Mike Brady, and Alexander S. Komarov
The Cryosphere, 16, 1125–1139, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1125-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1125-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We describe, apply, and validate the Environment and Climate Change Canada automated sea ice tracking system (ECCC-ASITS) that routinely generates large-scale sea ice motion (SIM) over the pan-Arctic domain using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The ECCC-ASITS was applied to the incoming image streams of Sentinel-1AB and the RADARSAT Constellation Mission from March 2020 to October 2021 using a total of 135 471 SAR images and generated new SIM datasets (i.e., 7 d 25 km and 3 d 6.25 km).
Charles Brunette, L. Bruno Tremblay, and Robert Newton
The Cryosphere, 16, 533–557, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-533-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-533-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice motion is a versatile parameter for monitoring the Arctic climate system. In this contribution, we use data from drifting buoys, winds, and ice thickness to parameterize the motion of sea ice in a free drift regime – i.e., flowing freely in response to the forcing from the winds and ocean currents. We show that including a dependence on sea ice thickness and taking into account a climatology of the surface ocean circulation significantly improves the accuracy of sea ice motion estimates.
Mathieu Plante and L. Bruno Tremblay
The Cryosphere, 15, 5623–5638, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5623-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5623-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We propose a generalized form for the damage parameterization such that super-critical stresses can return to the yield with different final sub-critical stress states. In uniaxial compression simulations, the generalization improves the orientation of sea ice fractures and reduces the growth of numerical errors. Shear and convergence deformations however remain predominant along the fractures, contrary to observations, and this calls for modification of the post-fracture viscosity formulation.
Vincent Vionnet, Colleen Mortimer, Mike Brady, Louise Arnal, and Ross Brown
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4603–4619, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4603-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4603-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Water equivalent of snow cover (SWE) is a key variable for water management, hydrological forecasting and climate monitoring. A new Canadian SWE dataset (CanSWE) is presented in this paper. It compiles data collected by multiple agencies and companies at more than 2500 different locations across Canada over the period 1928–2020. Snow depth and derived bulk snow density are also included when available.
Marcel Kleinherenbrink, Anton Korosov, Thomas Newman, Andreas Theodosiou, Alexander S. Komarov, Yuanhao Li, Gert Mulder, Pierre Rampal, Julienne Stroeve, and Paco Lopez-Dekker
The Cryosphere, 15, 3101–3118, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3101-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3101-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Harmony is one of the Earth Explorer 10 candidates that has the chance of being selected for launch in 2028. The mission consists of two satellites that fly in formation with Sentinel-1D, which carries a side-looking radar system. By receiving Sentinel-1's signals reflected from the surface, Harmony is able to observe instantaneous elevation and two-dimensional velocity at the surface. As such, Harmony's data allow the retrieval of sea-ice drift and wave spectra in sea-ice-covered regions.
Damien Ringeisen, L. Bruno Tremblay, and Martin Losch
The Cryosphere, 15, 2873–2888, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2873-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2873-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Deformations in the Arctic sea ice cover take the shape of narrow lines. High-resolution sea ice models recreate these deformation lines. Recent studies have shown that the most widely used sea ice model creates fracture lines with intersection angles larger than those observed and cannot create smaller angles. In our work, we change the way sea ice deforms post-fracture. This change allows us to understand the link between the sea ice model and intersection angles and create more acute angles.
Gregory C. Smith, Yimin Liu, Mounir Benkiran, Kamel Chikhar, Dorina Surcel Colan, Audrey-Anne Gauthier, Charles-Emmanuel Testut, Frederic Dupont, Ji Lei, François Roy, Jean-François Lemieux, and Fraser Davidson
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 1445–1467, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1445-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1445-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Canada's coastlines include diverse ocean environments. In response to the strong need to support marine activities and security, we present the first pan-Canadian operational regional ocean analysis system. A novel online tidal harmonic analysis method is introduced that uses a sliding-window approach. Innovations are compared to those from the Canadian global analysis system. Particular improvements are found near the Gulf Stream due to the higher model grid resolution.
Shihe Ren, Xi Liang, Qizhen Sun, Hao Yu, L. Bruno Tremblay, Bo Lin, Xiaoping Mai, Fu Zhao, Ming Li, Na Liu, Zhikun Chen, and Yunfei Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 1101–1124, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1101-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1101-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice plays a crucial role in global energy and water budgets. To get a better simulation of sea ice, we coupled a sea ice model with an atmospheric and ocean model to form a fully coupled system. The sea ice simulation results of this coupled system demonstrated that a two-way coupled model has better performance in terms of sea ice, especially in summer. This indicates that sea-ice–ocean–atmosphere interaction plays a crucial role in controlling Arctic summertime sea ice distribution.
Stephen E. L. Howell, Randall K. Scharien, Jack Landy, and Mike Brady
The Cryosphere, 14, 4675–4686, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4675-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4675-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Melt ponds form on the surface of Arctic sea ice during spring and have been shown to exert a strong influence on summer sea ice area. Here, we use RADARSAT-2 satellite imagery to estimate the predicted peak spring melt pond fraction in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 2009–2018. Our results show that RADARSAT-2 estimates of peak melt pond fraction can be used to provide predictive information about summer sea ice area within certain regions of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Joshua King, Stephen Howell, Mike Brady, Peter Toose, Chris Derksen, Christian Haas, and Justin Beckers
The Cryosphere, 14, 4323–4339, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4323-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4323-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Physical measurements of snow on sea ice are sparse, making it difficulty to evaluate satellite estimates or model representations. Here, we introduce new measurements of snow properties on sea ice to better understand variability at distances less than 200 m. Our work shows that similarities in the snow structure are found at longer distances on younger ice than older ice.
Igor A. Dmitrenko, Vladislav Petrusevich, Gérald Darnis, Sergei A. Kirillov, Alexander S. Komarov, Jens K. Ehn, Alexandre Forest, Louis Fortier, Søren Rysgaard, and David G. Barber
Ocean Sci., 16, 1261–1283, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-1261-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-1261-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Diel vertical migration (DVM) of zooplankton is the largest nonhuman migration on the Earth. DVM in the eastern Beaufort Sea was assessed using a 2-year-long time series of currents and acoustic signal from a bottom-anchored oceanographic mooring. Our results show that DVM is deviated by the (i) seasonal and interannual variability in sea ice and (ii) wind-driven water dynamics. We also observed the midnight-sun DVM during summer 2004, a signal masked by suspended particles in summer 2005.
Jean-François Lemieux, L. Bruno Tremblay, and Mathieu Plante
The Cryosphere, 14, 3465–3478, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3465-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3465-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice pressure poses great risk for navigation; it can lead to ship besetting and damages. Sea ice forecasting systems can predict the evolution of pressure. However, these systems have low spatial resolution (a few km) compared to the dimensions of ships. We study the downscaling of pressure from the km-scale to scales relevant for navigation. We find that the pressure applied on a ship beset in heavy ice conditions can be markedly larger than the pressure predicted by the forecasting system.
Lawrence Mudryk, María Santolaria-Otín, Gerhard Krinner, Martin Ménégoz, Chris Derksen, Claire Brutel-Vuilmet, Mike Brady, and Richard Essery
The Cryosphere, 14, 2495–2514, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2495-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2495-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We analyze how well updated state-of-the-art climate models reproduce observed historical snow cover extent and snow mass and how they project that these quantities will change up to the year 2100. Overall the updated models better represent historical snow extent than previous models, and they simulate stronger historical trends in snow extent and snow mass. They project that spring snow extent will decrease by 8 % for each degree Celsius that the global surface air temperature increases.
Mathieu Plante, Bruno Tremblay, Martin Losch, and Jean-François Lemieux
The Cryosphere, 14, 2137–2157, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2137-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2137-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We study the formation of ice arches between two islands using a model that resolves crack initiation and propagation. This model uses a damage parameter to parameterize the presence or absence of cracks in the ice. We find that the damage parameter allows for cracks to propagate in the ice but in a different orientation than predicted by theory. The results call for improvement in how stress relaxation associated with this damage is parameterized.
Angela Cheng, Barbara Casati, Adrienne Tivy, Tom Zagon, Jean-François Lemieux, and L. Bruno Tremblay
The Cryosphere, 14, 1289–1310, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1289-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1289-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice charts by the Canadian Ice Service (CIS) contain visually estimated ice concentration produced by analysts. The accuracy of manually derived ice concentrations is not well understood. The subsequent uncertainty of ice charts results in downstream uncertainties for ice charts users, such as models and climatology studies, and when used as a verification source for automated sea ice classifiers. This study quantifies the level of accuracy and inter-analyst agreement for ice charts by CIS.
Jean-François Lemieux and Frédéric Dupont
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 1763–1769, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1763-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1763-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice dynamics plays an important role in shaping the sea cover in polar regions. Winds and ocean currents exert large stresses on the sea ice cover. This can lead to the formation of long cracks and ridges, which strongly impact the exchange of heat, momentum and moisture between the atmosphere and the ocean. It is therefore crucial for a sea ice model to be able to represent these features. This article describes how internal sea ice stresses should be diagnosed from model simulations.
Damien Ringeisen, Martin Losch, L. Bruno Tremblay, and Nils Hutter
The Cryosphere, 13, 1167–1186, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1167-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1167-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We study the creation of fracture in sea ice plastic models. To do this, we compress an ideal piece of ice of 8 km by 25 km. We use two different mathematical expressions defining the resistance of ice. We find that the most common one is unable to model the fracture correctly, while the other gives better results but brings instabilities. The results are often in opposition with ice granular nature (e.g., sand) and call for changes in ice modeling.
Frédéric Laliberté, Stephen E. L. Howell, Jean-François Lemieux, Frédéric Dupont, and Ji Lei
The Cryosphere, 12, 3577–3588, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3577-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3577-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Ice that forms over marginal seas often gets anchored and becomes landfast. Landfast ice is fundamental to the local ecosystems, is of economic importance as it leads to hazardous seafaring conditions and is also a choice hunting ground for both the local population and large predators. Using observations and climate simulations, this study shows that, especially in the Canadian Arctic, landfast ice might be more resilient to climate change than is generally thought.
Andrea Klus, Matthias Prange, Vidya Varma, Louis Bruno Tremblay, and Michael Schulz
Clim. Past, 14, 1165–1178, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1165-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1165-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Numerous proxy records from the northern North Atlantic suggest substantial climate variability including the occurrence of multi-decadal-to-centennial cold events during the Holocene. We analyzed two abrupt cold events in a Holocene simulation using a comprehensive climate model. It is shown that the events were ultimately triggered by prolonged phases of positive North Atlantic Oscillation causing changes in ocean circulation followed by severe cooling, freshening, and expansion of sea ice.
Paul J. Kushner, Lawrence R. Mudryk, William Merryfield, Jaison T. Ambadan, Aaron Berg, Adéline Bichet, Ross Brown, Chris Derksen, Stephen J. Déry, Arlan Dirkson, Greg Flato, Christopher G. Fletcher, John C. Fyfe, Nathan Gillett, Christian Haas, Stephen Howell, Frédéric Laliberté, Kelly McCusker, Michael Sigmond, Reinel Sospedra-Alfonso, Neil F. Tandon, Chad Thackeray, Bruno Tremblay, and Francis W. Zwiers
The Cryosphere, 12, 1137–1156, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1137-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1137-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Here, the Canadian research network CanSISE uses state-of-the-art observations of snow and sea ice to assess how Canada's climate model and climate prediction systems capture variability in snow, sea ice, and related climate parameters. We find that the system performs well, accounting for observational uncertainty (especially for snow), model uncertainty, and chaotic climate variability. Even for variables like sea ice, where improvement is needed, useful prediction tools can be developed.
Lawrence R. Mudryk, Chris Derksen, Stephen Howell, Fred Laliberté, Chad Thackeray, Reinel Sospedra-Alfonso, Vincent Vionnet, Paul J. Kushner, and Ross Brown
The Cryosphere, 12, 1157–1176, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1157-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1157-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents changes in both snow and sea ice that have occurred over Canada during the recent past and shows climate model estimates for future changes expected to occur by the year 2050. The historical changes of snow and sea ice are generally coherent and consistent with the regional history of temperature and precipitation changes. It is expected that snow and sea ice will continue to decrease in the future, declining by an additional 15–30 % from present day values by the year 2050.
Vincent Le Fouest, Atsushi Matsuoka, Manfredi Manizza, Mona Shernetsky, Bruno Tremblay, and Marcel Babin
Biogeosciences, 15, 1335–1346, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1335-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1335-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Climate warming could enhance the load of terrigenous dissolved organic carbon (tDOC) of Arctic rivers. We show that tDOC concentrations simulated by an ocean–biogeochemical model in the Canadian Beaufort Sea compare favorably with their satellite counterparts. Over spring–summer, riverine tDOC contributes to 35 % of primary production and an equivalent of ~ 10 % of tDOC is exported westwards with the potential for fueling the biological production of the eastern Alaskan nearshore waters.
Ron Kwok, Nathan T. Kurtz, Ludovic Brucker, Alvaro Ivanoff, Thomas Newman, Sinead L. Farrell, Joshua King, Stephen Howell, Melinda A. Webster, John Paden, Carl Leuschen, Joseph A. MacGregor, Jacqueline Richter-Menge, Jeremy Harbeck, and Mark Tschudi
The Cryosphere, 11, 2571–2593, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2571-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2571-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Since 2009, the ultra-wideband snow radar on Operation IceBridge has acquired data in annual campaigns conducted during the Arctic and Antarctic springs. Existing snow depth retrieval algorithms differ in the way the air–snow and snow–ice interfaces are detected and localized in the radar returns and in how the system limitations are addressed. Here, we assess five retrieval algorithms by comparisons with field measurements, ground-based campaigns, and analyzed fields of snow depth.
Dirk Notz, Alexandra Jahn, Marika Holland, Elizabeth Hunke, François Massonnet, Julienne Stroeve, Bruno Tremblay, and Martin Vancoppenolle
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 3427–3446, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3427-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3427-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The large-scale evolution of sea ice is both an indicator and a driver of climate changes. Hence, a realistic simulation of sea ice is key for a realistic simulation of the climate system of our planet. To assess and to improve the realism of sea-ice simulations, we present here a new protocol for climate-model output that allows for an in-depth analysis of the simulated evolution of sea ice.
Stephen E. L. Howell, Frédéric Laliberté, Ron Kwok, Chris Derksen, and Joshua King
The Cryosphere, 10, 1463–1475, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1463-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1463-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The Canadian Ice Service record of observed landfast ice and snow thickness represents one of the longest in the Arctic that spans over 5 decades. We analyze this record to report on long-term trends and variability of ice and snow thickness within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). Results indicate a thinning of ice at several sites in the CAA. State-of-the-art climate models still have difficultly capturing observed ice thickness values in the CAA and should be used with caution.
F. Dupont, S. Higginson, R. Bourdallé-Badie, Y. Lu, F. Roy, G. C. Smith, J.-F. Lemieux, G. Garric, and F. Davidson
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 1577–1594, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1577-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1577-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
1/12th degree resolution runs of Arctic--Atlantic were compared for the period 2003-2009. We found good representation of sea surface height and of its statistics; model temperature and salinity in general agreement with in situ measurements, but upper ocean properties in Beaufort Sea are challenging; distribution of concentration and volume of sea ice is improved when slowing down the ice and further improvements require better initial conditions and modifications to mixing.
S. E. L. Howell, T. Wohlleben, A. Komarov, L. Pizzolato, and C. Derksen
The Cryosphere, 7, 1753–1768, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1753-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1753-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Domain: ESSD – Ice | Subject: Snow and Sea Ice
An Arctic sea ice concentration data record on a 6.25 km polar stereographic grid from 3 years of Landsat-8 imagery
Time series of alpine snow surface radiative-temperature maps from high-precision thermal-infrared imaging
Operational and experimental snow observation systems in the upper Rofental: data from 2017 to 2023
SMOS-derived Antarctic thin sea ice thickness: data description and validation in the Weddell Sea
A 12-year climate record of wintertime wave-affected marginal ice zones in the Atlantic Arctic based on CryoSat-2
MODIS daily cloud-gap-filled fractional snow cover dataset of the Asian Water Tower region (2000–2022)
Mapping of sea ice concentration using the NASA NIMBUS 5 Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer data from 1972–1977
A climate data record of year-round global sea-ice drift from the EUMETSAT Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF)
Snow accumulation and ablation measurements in a midlatitude mountain coniferous forest (Col de Porte, France, 1325 m altitude): the Snow Under Forest (SnoUF) field campaign data set
A new sea ice concentration product in the polar regions derived from the FengYun-3 MWRI sensors
NH-SWE: Northern Hemisphere Snow Water Equivalent dataset based on in situ snow depth time series
IT-SNOW: a snow reanalysis for Italy blending modeling, in situ data, and satellite observations (2010–2021)
HMRFS–TP: long-term daily gap-free snow cover products over the Tibetan Plateau from 2002 to 2021 based on hidden Markov random field model
Hee-Sung Jung, Sang-Moo Lee, Joo-Hong Kim, and Kyungsoo Lee
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 233–258, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-233-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-233-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This dataset consists of reference sea ice concentration (SIC) data records over the Arctic Ocean, which were derived from the 30 m resolution imagery from the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on board Landsat-8. Each SIC map is given in a 6.25 km polar stereographic grid and is catalogued into one of the 12 regions of the Arctic Ocean. This dataset was produced to be used as a reference in the validation of various SIC products.
Sara Arioli, Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Simon Gascoin, Esteban Alonso-González, Marine Poizat, and Mark Irvine
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3913–3934, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3913-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3913-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
High-accuracy precision maps of the surface temperature of snow were acquired with an uncooled thermal-infrared camera during winter 2021–2022 and spring 2023. The accuracy – i.e., mean absolute error – improved from 1.28 K to 0.67 K between the seasons thanks to an improved camera setup and temperature stabilization. The dataset represents a major advance in the validation of satellite measurements and physical snow models over a complex topography.
Michael Warscher, Thomas Marke, Erwin Rottler, and Ulrich Strasser
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3579–3599, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3579-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3579-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Continuous observations of snow and climate at high altitudes are still sparse. We present a unique collection of weather and snow cover data from three automatic weather stations at remote locations in the Ötztal Alps (Austria) that include continuous recordings of snow cover properties. The data are available over multiple winter seasons and enable new insights for snow hydrological research. The data are also used in operational applications, i.e., for avalanche warning and flood forecasting.
Lars Kaleschke, Xiangshan Tian-Kunze, Stefan Hendricks, and Robert Ricker
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3149–3170, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3149-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3149-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a sea ice thickness dataset based on SMOS satellite measurements, initially designed for the Arctic but adapted for Antarctica. We validated it using limited Antarctic measurements. Our findings show promising results, with a small difference in thickness estimation and a strong correlation with validation data within the valid thickness range. However, improvements and synergies with other sensors are needed, especially for sea ice thicker than 1 m.
Weixin Zhu, Siqi Liu, Shiming Xu, and Lu Zhou
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2917–2940, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2917-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2917-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the polar ocean, wind waves generate and propagate into the sea ice cover, forming marginal ice zones (MIZs). Using ESA's CryoSat-2, we construct a 12-year dataset of the MIZ in the Atlantic Arctic, a key region for climate change and human activities. The dataset is validated with high-resolution observations by ICESat2 and Sentinel-1. MIZs over 300 km wide are found under storms in the Barents Sea. The new dataset serves as the basis for research areas, including wave–ice interactions.
Fangbo Pan, Lingmei Jiang, Gongxue Wang, Jinmei Pan, Jinyu Huang, Cheng Zhang, Huizhen Cui, Jianwei Yang, Zhaojun Zheng, Shengli Wu, and Jiancheng Shi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2501–2523, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2501-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2501-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
It is important to strengthen the continuous monitoring of snow cover as a key indicator of imbalance in the Asian Water Tower (AWT) region. We generate long-term daily gap-free fractional snow cover products over the AWT at 0.005° resolution from 2000 to 2022 based on the multiple-endmember spectral mixture analysis algorithm and the gap-filling algorithm. They can provide highly accurate, quantitative fractional snow cover information for subsequent studies on hydrology and climate.
Wiebke Margitta Kolbe, Rasmus T. Tonboe, and Julienne Stroeve
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1247–1264, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1247-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1247-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Current satellite-based sea-ice climate data records (CDRs) usually begin in October 1978 with the first multichannel microwave radiometer data. Here, we present a sea ice dataset based on the single-channel Electrical Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR) that operated from 1972-1977 onboard NASA’s Nimbus 5 satellite. The data were processed using modern methods and include uncertainty estimations in order to provide an important, easy-to-use reference period of good quality for current CDRs.
Thomas Lavergne and Emily Down
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5807–5834, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5807-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5807-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic can move several tens of kilometers per day due to wind and ocean currents. By analysing thousands of satellite images, we measured how sea ice has been moving every single day from 1991 through to 2020. We compare our data to how buoys attached to the ice moved and find good agreement. Other scientists will now use our data to better understand if climate change has modified the way sea ice moves and in what way.
Jean Emmanuel Sicart, Victor Ramseyer, Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Catherine Coulaud, Guilhem Freche, Damien Soubeyrand, Yves Lejeune, Marie Dumont, Isabelle Gouttevin, Erwan Le Gac, Frédéric Berger, Jean-Matthieu Monnet, Laurent Borgniet, Éric Mermin, Nick Rutter, Clare Webster, and Richard Essery
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5121–5133, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5121-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5121-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Forests strongly modify the accumulation, metamorphism and melting of snow in midlatitude and high-latitude regions. Two field campaigns during the winters 2016–17 and 2017–18 were conducted in a coniferous forest in the French Alps to study interactions between snow and vegetation. This paper presents the field site, instrumentation and collection methods. The observations include forest characteristics, meteorology, snow cover and snow interception by the canopy during precipitation events.
Ying Chen, Ruibo Lei, Xi Zhao, Shengli Wu, Yue Liu, Pei Fan, Qing Ji, Peng Zhang, and Xiaoping Pang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3223–3242, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3223-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3223-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The sea ice concentration product derived from the Microwave Radiation Image sensors on board the FengYun-3 satellites can reasonably and independently identify the seasonal and long-term changes of sea ice, as well as extreme cases of annual maximum and minimum sea ice extent in polar regions. It is comparable with other sea ice concentration products and applied to the studies of climate and marine environment.
Adrià Fontrodona-Bach, Bettina Schaefli, Ross Woods, Adriaan J. Teuling, and Joshua R. Larsen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2577–2599, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2577-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2577-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We provide a dataset of snow water equivalent, the depth of liquid water that results from melting a given depth of snow. The dataset contains 11 071 sites over the Northern Hemisphere, spans the period 1950–2022, and is based on daily observations of snow depth on the ground and a model. The dataset fills a lack of accessible historical ground snow data, and it can be used for a variety of applications such as the impact of climate change on global and regional snow and water resources.
Francesco Avanzi, Simone Gabellani, Fabio Delogu, Francesco Silvestro, Flavio Pignone, Giulia Bruno, Luca Pulvirenti, Giuseppe Squicciarino, Elisabetta Fiori, Lauro Rossi, Silvia Puca, Alexander Toniazzo, Pietro Giordano, Marco Falzacappa, Sara Ratto, Hervè Stevenin, Antonio Cardillo, Matteo Fioletti, Orietta Cazzuli, Edoardo Cremonese, Umberto Morra di Cella, and Luca Ferraris
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 639–660, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-639-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-639-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Snow cover has profound implications for worldwide water supply and security, but knowledge of its amount and distribution across the landscape is still elusive. We present IT-SNOW, a reanalysis comprising daily maps of snow amount and distribution across Italy for 11 snow seasons from September 2010 to August 2021. The reanalysis was validated using satellite images and snow measurements and will provide highly needed data to manage snow water resources in a warming climate.
Yan Huang, Jiahui Xu, Jingyi Xu, Yelei Zhao, Bailang Yu, Hongxing Liu, Shujie Wang, Wanjia Xu, Jianping Wu, and Zhaojun Zheng
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4445–4462, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4445-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4445-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Reliable snow cover information is important for understating climate change and hydrological cycling. We generate long-term daily gap-free snow products over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) at 500 m resolution from 2002 to 2021 based on the hidden Markov random field model. The accuracy is 91.36 %, and is especially improved during snow transitional period and over complex terrains. This dataset has great potential to study climate change and to facilitate water resource management in the TP.
Cited articles
Babb, D. G., Kirillov, S., Galley, R. J., Straneo, F., Ehn, J. K., Howell, S. E. L., Brady, M., Ridenour, N. A., and Barber, D. G.: Sea ice dynamics in Hudson Strait and its impact on winter shipping operations, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 126, e2021JC018024, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018024, 2021. a
Bouchat, A. and Tremblay, B.: Using sea-ice deformation fields to constrain the mechanical strength parameters of geophysical sea ice, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 122, 5802–5825, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013020, 2017. a, b
Bouchat, A. and Tremblay, B.: Reassessing the quality of sea-ice deformation estimates derived from the RADARSAT geophysical processor system and its impact on the spatiotemporal scaling statistics, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 125, e2019JC015944, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015944, 2020. a, b, c, d, e
Bouchat, A., Hutter, N., Chanut, J., Dupont, F., Dukhovskoy, D., Garric, G., Lee, Y. J., Lemieux, J.-F., Lique, C., Losch, M., Maslowski, W., Myers, P. G., Ólason, E., Rampal, P., Rasmussen, T., Talandier, C., Tremblay, B., and Wang, Q.: Sea Ice Rheology Experiment (SIREx): 1. Scaling and statistical properties of sea-ice deformation fields, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 127, e2021JC017667, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017667, 2022. a, b, c
Bouillon, S. and Rampal, P.: On producing sea ice deformation data sets from SAR-derived sea ice motion, The Cryosphere, 9, 663–673, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-663-2015, 2015. a, b, c
Brady, M. and Howell, S. E. L.: RADARSAT Constellation Mission / Sentinel-1 Sea Ice Motion (RCMS1SIM), https://catalogue.ec.gc.ca/geonetwork/srv/api/records/09ab22c4-e211-4d23-afe6-9e7aa6831c62 (last access: December 2024), 2021. a
Chen, J., Kang, S., You, Q., Zhang, Y., and Du, W.: Projected changes in sea ice and the navigability of the Arctic passages under global warming of 2 °C and 3 °C, Anthropocene, 40, 100349, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2022.100349, 2022. a
Dawson, J., Pizzolato, L., Howell, S. E., Copland, L., and Johnston, M. E.: Temporal and spatial patterns of ship traffic in the Canadian Arctic from 1990 to 2015, Arctic, 71, 15–26, 2018. a
Dierking, W., Stern, H. L., and Hutchings, J. K.: Estimating statistical errors in retrievals of ice velocity and deformation parameters from satellite images and buoy arrays, The Cryosphere, 14, 2999–3016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2999-2020, 2020. a
Fetterer, F., Knowles, K., Meier, W. N., Savoie, M., and Windnagel, A. K.: Sea Ice Index. (G02135, Version 3), Boulder, Colorado USA, National Snow and Ice Data Center [data set], https://doi.org/10.7265/N5K072F8, 2017. a
Griebel, J. and Dierking, W.: Impact of sea ice drift retrieval errors, discretization and grid type on calculations of ice deformation, Remote Sens.-Basel, 10, 393, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10030393, 2018. a, b
Heil, P., Lytle, V. I., and Allison, I.: Enhanced thermodynamic ice growth by sea-ice deformation, Ann. Glaciol., 27, 433–437, https://doi.org/10.3189/1998AoG27-1-433-437, 1998. a
Howell, S. E. L., Brady, M., and Komarov, A. S.: Generating large-scale sea ice motion from Sentinel-1 and the RADARSAT Constellation Mission using the Environment and Climate Change Canada automated sea ice tracking system, The Cryosphere, 16, 1125–1139, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1125-2022, 2022. a, b, c, d, e, f, g
Hutchings, J. K., Roberts, A., Geiger, C. A., and Richter-Menge, J.: Spatial and temporal characterization of sea-ice deformation, Ann. Glaciol., 52, 360–368, https://doi.org/10.3189/172756411795931769, 2011. a, b
Hutchings, J. K., Heil, P., Steer, A., and Hibler III, W. D.: Subsynoptic scale spatial variability of sea ice deformation in the western Weddell Sea during early summer, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 117, C01002, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC006961, 2012. a
Hutter, N. and Losch, M.: Feature-based comparison of sea ice deformation in lead-permitting sea ice simulations, The Cryosphere, 14, 93–113, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-93-2020, 2020. a
Hutter, N., Losch, M., and Menemenlis, D.: Scaling properties of Arctic sea ice deformation in a high-resolution viscous-plastic sea ice model and in satellite observations, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 123, 672–687, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013119, 2018. a
Hutter, N., Bouchat, A., Dupont, F., Dukhovskoy, D., Koldunov, N., Lee, Y. J., Lemieux, J.-F., Lique, C., Losch, M., Maslowski, W., Myers, P. G., Ólason, E., Rampal, P., Rasmussen, T., Talandier, C., Tremblay, B., and Wang, Q.: Sea Ice Rheology Experiment (SIREx): 2. Evaluating linear kinematic features in high-resolution sea ice simulations, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 127, e2021JC017666, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017666, e2021JC017666 2021JC017666, 2022. a, b
Itkin, P., Spreen, G., Cheng, B., Doble, M., Girard-Ardhuin, F., Haapala, J., Hughes, N., Kaleschke, L., Nicolaus, M., and Wilkinson, J.: Thin ice and storms: Sea ice deformation from buoy arrays deployed during N-ICE2015, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 122, 4661–4674, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JC012403, 2017. a
Komarov, A. S. and Barber, D. G.: Sea ice motion tracking from sequential dual-polarization RADARSAT-2 Images, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 52, 121–136, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2012.2236845, 2014. a, b, c, d
Korosov, A. A. and Rampal, P.: A combination of feature tracking and pattern matching with optimal parametrization for sea ice drift retrieval from SAR data, Remote Sens.-Basel, 9, 258, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9030258, 2017. a
Kwok, R.: Deformation of the Arctic Ocean Sea Kwok, R.: Deformation of the Arctic Ocean Sea Ice Cover between November 1996 and April 1997: A Qualitative Survey, in: IUTAM Symposium on Scaling Laws in Ice Mechanics and Ice Dynamics. Solid Mechanics and Its Applications, edited by: Dempsey, J. P. and Shen, H. H., vol. 94, Springer, Dordrecht, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9735-7_26, 2001. a, b, c, d
Kwok, R. and Cunningham, G. F.: Seasonal ice area and volume production of the Arctic Ocean: November 1996 through April 1997, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 107, SHE 12–1–SHE 12–17, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JC000469, 2002. a
Kwok, R., Schweiger, A., Rothrock, D. A., Pang, S., and Kottmeier, C.: Sea ice motion from satellite passive microwave imagery assessed with ERS SAR and buoy motions, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 103, 8191–8214, https://doi.org/10.1029/97JC03334, 1998. a, b, c, d
Kwok, R., Hunke, E. C., Maslowski, W., Menemenlis, D., and Zhang, J.: Variability of sea ice simulations assessed with RGPS kinematics, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 113, C11012, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JC004783, 2008. a, b
Lavergne, T. and Down, E.: A climate data record of year-round global sea-ice drift from the EUMETSAT Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5807–5834, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5807-2023, 2023. a
Lavergne, T., Eastwood, S., Teffah, Z., Schyberg, H., and Breivik, L.-A.: Sea ice motion from low-resolution satellite sensors: an alternative method and its validation in the Arctic, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 115, C10032, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JC005958, 2010. a
Lei, R., Gui, D., Hutchings, J. K., Heil, P., and Li, N.: Annual Cycles of Sea Ice Motion and Deformation Derived From Buoy Measurements in the Western Arctic Ocean Over Two Ice Seasons, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 125, e2019JC015310, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015310, 2020. a
Lindsay, R. W. and Stern, H. L.: The RADARSAT geophysical processor system: quality of sea ice trajectory and deformation estimates, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 20, 1333–1347, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(2003)020<1333:TRGPSQ>2.0.CO;2, 2003. a, b, c
Linow, S. and Dierking, W.: Object-based detection of linear kinematic features in sea ice, Remote Sens.-Basel, 9, 493, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050493, 2017. a
Marsan, D., Stern, H., Lindsay, R., and Weiss, J.: Scale dependence and localization of the deformation of Arctic Sea Ice, Phys. Rev. Lett., 93, 178501, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.178501, 2004. a, b
Moore, G. W. K., Howell, S. E. L., Brady, M., Xu, X., and McNeil, K.: Anomalous collapses of Nares Strait ice arches leads to enhanced export of Arctic sea ice, Nat. Commun., 12, 1, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20314-w, 2021. a
Mudryk, L. R., Dawson, J., Howell, S. E. L., Derksen, C., Zagon, T. A., and Brady, M.: Impact of 1, 2 and 4 °C of global warming on ship navigation in the Canadian Arctic, Nat. Clim. Change, 11, 673–679, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0757-5, 2021. a
Oikkonen, A., Haapala, J., Lensu, M., Karvonen, J., and Itkin, P.: Small-scale sea ice deformation during N-ICE2015: from compact pack ice to marginal ice zone, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 122, 5105–5120, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JC012387, 2017. a
Ólason, E., Boutin, G., Korosov, A., Rampal, P., Williams, T., Kimmritz, M., Dansereau, V., and Samaké, A.: A new brittle rheology and numerical framework for large-scale sea-ice models, J. Adv. Model. Earth Sy., 14, e2021MS002685, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002685, 2022. a
Pizzolato, L., Howell, S. E. L., Derksen, C., Dawson, J., and Copland, L.: Changing sea ice conditions and marine transportation activity in Canadian Arctic waters between 1990 and 2012, Climatic Change, 123, 161–173, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-1038-3, 2014. a
Pizzolato, L., Howell, S. E. L., Dawson, J., Laliberté, F., and Copland, L.: The influence of declining sea ice on shipping activity in the Canadian Arctic, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 12146–12154, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071489, 2016. a
Plante, M., Lemieux, J.-F., Tremblay, L. B., Bouchat, A., Ringeisen, D., Blain, P., Howell, S., Brady, M., Alexander, K., Duval, B., Yakuden, L., and Labelle, F.: Sea ice deformation and rotation rates (SIDRR) from the ECCC-ASITS, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13936609, 2024a. a, b
Plante, M., Yakuden, L., Duval, B., Bouchat, A., Ringeisen, D., Lemieux, J.-F., Tremblay, L. B., and Blain, P.: McGill-sea-ice/SIDRRpy: SIDRRpy v1.1, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13936712, 2024b. a
Plante, M., Yakuden, Y., Duval, B., Bouchat, A., Ringeisen, D., Lemieux, J.-F., Tremblay, L. B., Blain, P., and Labelle, F.: SIDRR production code (v1.0), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14783107, 2025. a
Rampal, P., Dansereau, V., Olason, E., Bouillon, S., Williams, T., Korosov, A., and Samaké, A.: On the multi-fractal scaling properties of sea ice deformation, The Cryosphere, 13, 2457–2474, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2457-2019, 2019. a, b, c
Ringeisen, D., Hutter, N., and von Albedyll, L.: Deformation lines in Arctic sea ice: intersection angle distribution and mechanical properties, The Cryosphere, 17, 4047–4061, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4047-2023, 2023. a
Spreen, G., Kwok, R., Menemenlis, D., and Nguyen, A. T.: Sea-ice deformation in a coupled ocean–sea-ice model and in satellite remote sensing data, The Cryosphere, 11, 1553–1573, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1553-2017, 2017. a
Tian, T. R., Fraser, A. D., Kimura, N., Zhao, C., and Heil, P.: Rectification and validation of a daily satellite-derived Antarctic sea ice velocity product, The Cryosphere, 16, 1299–1314, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-1299-2022, 2022. a
Tschudi, M. A., Meier, W. N., and Stewart, J. S.: An enhancement to sea ice motion and age products at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), The Cryosphere, 14, 1519–1536, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1519-2020, 2020. a
von Albedyll, L., Haas, C., and Dierking, W.: Linking sea ice deformation to ice thickness redistribution using high-resolution satellite and airborne observations, The Cryosphere, 15, 2167–2186, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2167-2021, 2021. a
von Albedyll, L., Hendricks, S., Hutter, N., Murashkin, D., Kaleschke, L., Willmes, S., Thielke, L., Tian-Kunze, X., Spreen, G., and Haas, C.: Lead fractions from SAR-derived sea ice divergence during MOSAiC, The Cryosphere, 18, 1259–1285, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1259-2024, 2024. a
Womack, A., Alberello, A., de Vos, M., Toffoli, A., Verrinder, R., and Vichi, M.: A contrast in sea ice drift and deformation between winter and spring of 2019 in the Antarctic marginal ice zone, The Cryosphere, 18, 205–229, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-205-2024, 2024. a
Short summary
Sea ice forms a thin boundary between the ocean and the atmosphere, with complex, crust-like dynamics and ever-changing networks of sea ice leads and ridges. Statistics of these dynamical features are often used to evaluate sea ice models. Here, we present a new pan-Arctic dataset of sea ice deformations derived from satellite imagery, from 1 September 2017 to 31 August 2023. We discuss the dataset coverage and some limitations associated with uncertainties in the computed values.
Sea ice forms a thin boundary between the ocean and the atmosphere, with complex, crust-like...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint