Archival and Analysis of Sea Ice Thickness in the Arctic Ocean Based on On-Ice In Situ Historical Measurements

A largely unexplored sea ice data record consists of in situ thickness measurements derived from drill holes, cores, gauges, thermistor strings, and surface electromagnetic induction. By compiling these often disparate and scattered but generally highly accurate measurements into a single database, a long-term record is being developed, that will expand and extend in time and space the thickness record obtained from the submarine ice draft record as well as the developing satellite, helicopter EM, and sonar and mass balance buoys measurements. From journal articles, reports, on-line databases, and direct contact with sea ice investigators, we assembled measurements from many types of expeditions, large and small, with the earliest data so far from 1928 to the most recent from 2007. Many of the field expeditions are in regions outside of the central Arctic region that submarines are able to sample, thereby expanding the spatial extent of the sea ice record. We will discuss the preliminary analysis of these records, as a means to improving the understanding of thickness changes in relation to climate change.