A systematic method of obtaining ice concentration measurements from ship-based observations

The distribution and concentration of sea ice plays an important role in the Earthʹs climate system. Although satellite data are used to observe the distribution and concentration of sea ice, the amount of in situ validation data available is limited. This is because of the hostile climate in the polar regions that limits human activity. etter presents the first results of ice concentration values obtained from a recording system that has been designed to fit on any ship, with minimal interference to ship operations. The digital image data set presented were obtained from the R.V. Jan Mayen scientific cruise to the Greenland Sea, March 2000, which was part of the UK NERC ARCICE scientific programme. The analysis of the digital images using a threshold technique is described, and the results are compared with SSM/I-derived sea ice concentrations along the cruise track.