Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 7.8.
Ice concentration for the Arctic and peripheral seas (see color bar) for the
January 5-11, 1994 period, based on the analysis of the National Ice Center (courtesy
of K. Knowles, NSIDC, Boulder, CO). (See plate section for color version.)
7.2.3
Ice Concentration
Ice concentration was also introduced in
Chapter 2
. Recall that concentrations (the
part of a given area covered by ice) in the interior pack (the PIZ) typically exceed
97 percent during winter but decreases during summer to 85-95 percent, with large
variability and lower concentrations in the MIZ.
Figure 7.8
shows a typical pat-
tern of ice concentration for winter based on charts from the National Ice Center
(NIC). This represents conditions for the seven-day period of January 5-11, 1994.
The NIC charts are based on a combination of various forms of satellite imagery
along with ship and aircraft reports. Note the high ice concentrations over the inte-
rior pack ice and the generally decreasing concentrations to the south. Fast ice is
found along the shores of Siberia, Alaska, and in the straits of the Canadian Arctic
Archipelago.
