Trends and variability in summer sea ice cover in the Canadian Arctic based on the Canadian Ice Service Digital Archive

The Canadian Ice Service Digital Archive (CISDA) is a compilation of weekly ice charts that cover Canadian Waters; the data set is continually updated and it extends back to the early 1960s. The ice charts are represent and integration of remotely sensed sea ice data, surface observations, airborne and ship reports, operational model results and the expertise of experience ice forecasters. Although the accuracy, type and detail of information far exceeds what is attainable from a single satellite source, errors and uncertainties in the data are non-uniform in both space and time. In part one of this study the main sources of uncertainty in the database are reviewed and the data are validated for use in climate studies. In part two, trends and variability in summer sea ice in the Canadian Arctic are investigated using CISDA. These data revealed that between 1968 and 2008, summer sea ice cover has decreased by 8.9% ± 3.1% per decade in Hudson Bay, 2.9% ± 1.2% per decade in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, 8.9% ± 3.1% per decade in Baffin Bay, and 5.2% ± 2.4% per decade in the Beaufort Sea. In general, these reductions in sea ice cover are linked to increases in early summer surface air temperature (SAT); significant increases in SAT were observed in every season and with the exception of the Hudson Bay region they are consistently greater than the pan-Arctic change by up to ~0.2oC per decade. Within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Baffin Bay, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index correlates well with multi-year ice coverage (positive correlation) and first-year ice coverage (negative correlation) suggesting that El Nino episodes precede summers with more multi-year ice and less first-year ice. Extending the trend calculations back to 1960 along the major shipping routes through the Canadian Arctic revealed significant decreases in summer sea ice coverage ranging between 11% and 15% per decade along the shipping route through Hudson Bay, the western end of Arctic Bridge, and 6% and 10% per decade along the southern route of the Northwest Passage, the latter is linked to increases in SAT. Between 1960 and 2008, no significant trends were found along the northern Western Parry Channel route of the Northwest Passage.