A Method for Determining Ice Cover Thickness and Strength in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

• Main Author: Frederking, Robert
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: National Research Council Canada 2005
• Subjects: Arctic; Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Isachsen; Mould Bay; Arctic Archipelago
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.4224/12340975; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=e7de922a-ba81-44ad-8408-5af5195ae74b

During the 1980s extensive offshore geophysical surveys yielded over 100,000 measured ice thicknesses in one area of the Arctic Archipelago. The date and location of these measurements are known and can be compared with ice regime information on Canadian Ice Service ice charts from the same time period. Air temperature data are available from Arctic Weather Stations at Mould Bay and Isachsen, from which ice strength can be calculated. It has been demonstrated that ice cover strength decreases by a factor of 10 from mid-winter to just before break-up. A methodology has been proposed for using all the aforementioned data to make adjustments to the strength factor p* in the CIS Ice Forecast Model for application in aiding ice forecasting in the Canadian Arctic Archilelago.