Ice classes - Barents Sea

The polar regions hold large masses of water in the form of
ice, and this ice has a modifying effect on temperature variations.

An increase in the mean temperature of the Arctic, as has been
predicted, may result in an intensified melting of the sea ice. While
a compact ice cover absorbs 15-50% of the incoming solar radiation, an
ice free ocean absorbs about 90%. The absorbed radiation causes
warming and evaporation. A change in the ice cover may therefore
drastically effect the heat budget of the sea surface. This
illustrates an important self-magnifying effect of the increased heat
absorption causing the acceleration of ice melting.

An increased greenhouse effect due to changes in the gas composition
of the atmosphere could therefore be monitored by studying the changes
in the total mass of sea ice in the Arctic.

Ice charts of the Barents Sea , with the ice separated in ten ice
classes, weekly, from 1966 to 1989. The classes are from open water to
dense pack ice.

Attached Raster(s):
Member_ID: 1
Raster Name: *.BPIX files - internal format of Norwegian Polar Institute
Raster
Raster files received from the Norwegian Polar Institute in their own
internal format.

Attached Raster(s):
Member_ID: 2
Raster Name: ArcInfo grids representing sea ice in the barents region
Raster
ArcInfo grids representing the barents sea ice cover from 1966 to 1989.

Attached Raster(s):
Member_ID: 3
Raster Name: ArcInfo grids for january 1989.
Raster
Five ArcInfo grids representing ice coverage in January 1989.

Attached Raster(s):
Member_ID: 4
Raster Name: Arcinfo grid of sea ice for February 1989.
Raster
ArcInfo grid representing sea ice cover for February 1989.

Attached Raster(s):
Member_ID: 5
Raster Name: ArcInfo grid of sea ice for January - year unknown.
Raster
ArcInfo grid representing sea ice cover in January - year unknown.

Attached Raster(s):
Member_ID: 6
Raster Name: Arcinfo grid of sea ice
Raster
ArcInfo grid representing sea ice - date unknown.
Need better documentation for this grid - need to know the coverage date.

Attached Raster(s):
Member_ID: 7
Raster Name: ArcInfo grid of sea ice for July and August
Raster
ArcInfo grid representing sea ice cover for July and August, year unknown.

Attached Raster(s):
Member_ID: 8
Raster Name: ArcInfo grid of minimum sea ice extent for 1989.
Raster
Arcinfo grid representing minimum sea ice extent for 1989.

Members informations:
Attached Vector(s):
MemberID: 9
Vector Name: Vector coverages of ice extent
Feature_type: polygons
Vector
Vector coverages representing ice extent for the years 1966 through to 1989.

Members informations:
Attached Vector(s):
MemberID: 10
Vector Name: Vector ArcInfo coverages of sea ice extent
Feature_type: polygons
Vector
Vector coverages representing sea ice extent for the years 1966
through to 1989.

Members informations:
Attached Vector(s):
MemberID: 11
Vector Name: Clipping area for the barents sea region
Feature_type: polygon
Vector
ArcInfo clipping vector coverage of the Barents sea region.

Members informations:
Attached Vector(s):
MemberID: 12
Vector Name: ArcInfo coverage of July-August ice extent
Feature_type: polygon
Vector
ArcInfo vector coverage representing the ice extent for July and August.
Year unknown