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Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry / Sea Ice and Polar Dynamics Science Team

Arctic Airborne Sea Ice Surveys: Coordinated Activities Table (2009-2019)

Date

OIB Flight

Area

Collaborating Organizations

Experiment

Reference

Notes

21 April 2009

Flight 732 Sea Ice

(F11)

Canada Basin

NOAA, NASA, UCL

NASA 2009

NOAA CBSIT Experiment: Envisat under-flight

Connor et al. (2012)

Out-and-back flight along Envisat orbit: ~470 m (OUT), ~760 m (RTN)

25 April 2009*

Flight 736 Sea Ice

(F15)

Land-fast ice north of
Cape Morris Jesup

NOAA, NASA, CRREL, DTU Space

NASA 2009

NOAA CBSIT Experiment: GreenArc over-flight

Farrell et al. (2012)

In situ snow depth (magnaprobe) and ice thickness (EM31) taken at 5-meter intervals along 2-km-long survey line

5 April 2010

Sea Ice 06

(F08)

Canada Basin

NOAA, NASA OIB, ESA, UCL

NASA OIB 2010

NOAA LSA Experiment

Envisat under-flight

Connor et al. (2012)

Out-and-back flight along Envisat orbit: ~425 m (OUT), ~380 m (RTN)

20 April 2010

Sea Ice 07

(F14)

Central Arctic

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA, UCL

NASA OIB 2010

NOAA LSA Experiment

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Connor et al. (2011)

Out-and-back flight along CryoSat-2 orbit: ~7620 m (OUT), ~460 m (RTN). ATM and LVIS onboard NASA DC-8.

16 March 2011

Connor Corridor

 (F01)

Canada Basin

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA

NASA OIB 2011

NOAA POSIT Experiment

Envisat under-flight

Connor et al. (2012)

Out-and-back flight along Envisat orbit: ~470 m (OUT), ~5300 m (RTN)

17 March 2011†

CryoSat-2 Under flight

(F02)

North of Alert

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA

NASA OIB 2011

NOAA POSIT Experiment

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit: 4979 at ~ 460 m altitude. Cloud conditions marginal.

23 March 2011*

ICEX Camp Survey

(F05)

Beaufort Sea

NASA OIB, NOAA, NRL, CRREL

NASA OIB 2011

NRL Determining the Impact of Sea Ice Thickness on the Arctic’s Naturally Changing Environment (DISTANCE) ICEX2011 in situ data at NSIDC

Gardner et al. (2012)

Newman et al. (2014)

Webster et al. (2015)

In situ snow depth (magnaprobe) and ice thickness (EM31) taken at 5-meter intervals along 9-km-long survey line. 2 aircraft conducted over-flights of field site: OIB, NRL (airborne laser altimeter Riegl Q560, 10 GHz pulse-limited precision radar altimeter sensor, photogrammetric camera Applanix DSS-439)

15 April 2011*†

CryoVEx

(F20)

North of Alert

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA, UCL, York University, DTU Space, AWI

NASA OIB 2011

ESA CryoVEx 2011

CryoVEx ASIRAS

AWI Sea Ice AEM

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

Kwok and Haas, 2015

ESA CryoVal Golden Day:

In situ snow depth and ice thickness. 3 aircraft conducted under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit 5399: OIB, AWI (AEM, laser altimeter), DTU (ASIRAS radar).

15 March 2012*

Beaufort-Chukchi ZigZag

(F02)

Barrow, AK
Elson Lagoon

NASA OIB, JPL, CRREL, University of Washington/APL

NASA OIB 2012

BRomine, Ozone, and Mercury EXperiement (BROMEX)

Webster et al. (2014)

In situ snow depth (magnaprobe) and ice thickness (EM31)

15 March 2012†

Beaufort-Chukchi ZigZag

(F02)

Chukchi Sea

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA

NASA OIB 2012

NOAA AASAA 2012

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbits: 10262 and 10263 at ~460 m altitude.

17 March 2012†

Alaska Coastal Zigzag A (F04)

Beaufort / Chukchi Seas

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA

NASA OIB 2012

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Under-flights of CryoSat-2 orbits: 10291 and 10292 at ~460 m altitude.

21 March 2012†

North Pole Transect (F06)

Lincoln Sea

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA

NASA OIB 2012

NOAA AASAA 2012

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit 10346 at ~460 m altitude.

22 March 2012

Connor Corridor

(F07)

Canada Basin

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA

NASA OIB 2012

NOAA AASAA 2012

Envisat under-flight

Connor et al. (2012)

Out-and-back flight along Envisat orbit: ~470 m (OUT), ~470 m (RTN)

26 March 2012†

Wingham Box

(F09)

Central Basin

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA

NASA OIB 2012

NOAA AASAA 2012

CryoSat-2 under-flight (SARin mode)

Haas et al. (2016)

DiBella et al., 2018

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Out-and-back flight along CryoSat-2 orbit 10421: ~1370 m (OUT), ~460 m (RTN), within SARin mode region (aka “Wingham Box”).

28 March 2012†

CryoSat-2 under-flight & Inglefield Bredning/Qaanaaq

(F11)

North of Alert

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA

NASA OIB 2012

NOAA AASAA 2012

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Out-and-back flight under CryoSat-2 orbit 10450: ~3050 m (OUT), ~460 m (RTN)

28 March 2012*

CryoSat-2 under flight & Inglefield Bredning/Qaanaaq

(F11)

Qaanaaq Fjord, Greenland

NASA OIB, Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)

NASA OIB 2012

Qaanaaq Sea Ice Field Campaign

 

In situ data collected: EM31: Total ice thickness and snow depth; snow depth and limited property measurements; GPS: three-dimensional, cm-level, sea ice motions and deformation; IMB buoy deployments; photography. Over flight completed 1 day after collection of in situ observations.

29 March 2012†

ZigZag West

 (F12)

Lincoln Sea

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA, York University, DTU Space, AWI

NASA OIB 2012

NOAA AASAA 2012

CryoVEx 2012

CryoVEx ASIRAS

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

ESA CryoVal Golden Day:

2 aircraft conducted under-flights of CryoSat-2 orbit 10462: OIB and DTU Space (laser scanner and ASIRAS)

2 April 2012†

Fram Gateway

(F14)

Fram Strait

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA, NOAA, York University, DTU Space, AWI

NASA OIB 2012

NOAA AASAA 2012

CryoVEx 2012

CryoVEx ASIRAS

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: 3 aircraft conducted under-flights of CryoSat-2 orbit 10520: OIB, DTU (laser scanner and ASIRAS), AWI Polar 5 (AEM, laser scanner, nadir-looking camera)

10 April 2012

MABEL under-flight

(F16)

East Greenland Sea

NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2

NASA OIB 2012

NASA MABEL data

Farrell et al., 2015

MABEL (NASA photon counting LiDAR) data used in algorithm development for ICESat-2

20 March 2013†

CryoSat-2

(F01)

Lincoln Sea, North of Alert

NASA OIB, ESA

NASA OIB 2013

(data collected in grid)

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit 15632 at ~ 1370 m altitude in gridded survey format. Six 110 km lines and four 80 km lines, yielding composite ATM swath of more than 5 km width, with 25% overlap between swaths.

24 March 2013*

SIZRS ZigZag

(F05)

Barrow, AK

NASA OIB, University of Washington/APL, NRL, University of Delaware

NASA OIB 2013

NRL/BROMEX/AOX/
NAICEX/MERLIN

Broniatowska & Woods (2013)

In situ snow depth and sea ice thickness

22 April 2013

North Canada Basin

(F22)

Canada Basin

NASA OIB, MEDEA

NASA OIB 2013

Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis (MEDEA)

 

Very-high resolution imagery collected same day as OIB mission

24 April 2013†

North Pole Transect

(F24)

Central Basin

NASA OIB, ESA

NASA OIB 2013

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit 16139 at ~ 460 m altitude.

25 April 2013

South Canada Basin (MEDEA: 20 Apr. 2013)

Canada Basin

NASA OIB, MEDEA

NASA OIB 2013

Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis (MEDEA)

 

Very-high resolution imagery collected 5 days prior to OIB mission on 20 April 2013

17 March 2014*

North Beaufort Loop

(F05)

Barrow, AK

(Offshore site and land-fast ice)

NASA OIB, CRREL, NRL

NASA OIB 2014

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) DISTANCE

Hebert et al., 2014

In situ snow depth (magnaprobe) and ice thickness (EM31)

NRL collected complementary airborne data on different days, but ice cover was stationary.

18 March 2014*

East Beaufort

(F06)

Canada Basin

NASA OIB, CRREL, ONR, NRL, ESA, York University

NASA OIB 2014

ONR MIZ

CryoVEx AEM 2014

Haas and Beckers, 2014

In situ snow depth (magnaprobe) and ice thickness (EM31). CryoVEx experiment completed on 21 March 2014.

25 March 2014*

Eureka

(F10)

Eureka Sound

NASA OIB, ECCC

NASA OIB 2014

ASIRAS

Eureka 2014

King et al. (2015)

Extensive set of in situ snow depth observations (magnaprobe) along 70-km-long survey region. DTU airborne ASIRAS data collected at same time.

26 March 2014†

Zig Zag West

(F11)

North of Alert

NASA OIB, ESA, DTU Space, York University

NASA OIB 2014

CryoVEx AEM 2014

ASIRAS

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al. (2016)

Haas and Beckers, 2014

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: 3 aircraft conducted under-flights of CryoSat-2 orbit 21011: OIB, DTU (ASIRAS), York University (AEM)

28 March 2014

South Canada Basin (MEDEA: 8 April 2014)

Canada Basin

NASA OIB, MEDEA

NASA OIB 2014

Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis (MEDEA)

Arntsen et al., 2015

Time-series of very-high resolution imagery. Data collection initiated on 8 April 2014 and continued through melt season.

31 March 2014*†

CryoVEx Nord

(F13)

Cape Morris Jesup

NASA OIB, ESA, York University

NASA OIB 2014

CryoVEx AEM 2014

Haas et al. (2016)

Haas and Beckers, 2014

ESA CryoVal Golden Day: In situ snow depth (magnaprobe) and ice thickness (EM31)

3 April 2014

North Canada Basin (MEDEA: 8 April 2014)

Canada Basin

NASA OIB, MEDEA

NASA OIB 2014

Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis (MEDEA)

Arntsen et al., 2015

Time-series of very-high resolution imagery. Data collection initiated on 8 April 2014 and continued through melt season.

19 March 2015*

Nansen Gap

Fram Strait

NASA OIB, NPI

NASA OIB 2015

N-ICE2015

King et al., 2018

Rösel et al., 2018

Rösel et al., 2021

In situ snow depth and ice thickness

24 March 2015*

Zig Zag East

Station Nord

NASA OIB, University of Manitoba

NASA OIB 2015

University of Manitoba, Aarhus University and Greenland Climate Research Center Arctic Science Partnership (ASP-Nord)

 

In situ snow depth and ice thickness

25 March 2015

North Pole Transect

Central Arctic, between North Pole and Greenland

NASA OIB, ESA

NASA OIB 2015

CryoSat-2 under-flight

 

Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit on return leg of mission

29 March 2015*

North Beaufort Loop

Barrow, AK

NASA OIB, WHOI/BGEP, NRL

NASA OIB 2015

BGEP ULS data

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) field site

Gardner et al., 2015

Over flights of BGEP ULS moorings GAM-1, BGOS-B, BGOS-C. In situ snow depth and ice thickness observations collected at NRL land-fast ice site plus NRL airborne observations.

30 March 2015

SIZRS Zigzag

Beaufort Sea

NASA OIB, University of Washington/SIZRS, WHOI/BGEP

NASA OIB 2015

Univ Washington/SIZRS

BGEP ULS data

 

Conducted flight along SIZRS 150W survey line. Over flights of BGEP ULS moorings BGOS-A and BGOS-D.

19 April 2016*

 Eureka

Eureka Sound, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

NASA OIB, ECCC, NOAA

NASA OIB 2016

ECCC Eureka 2016

King et al., 2020

Extensive set of in situ snow depth observations (magnaprobe), snow characterization, sea ice thickness. Field experiment completed prior to arrival of NOAA P-3B aircraft on site.

21 April 2016

SIZRS ZigZag

Beaufort Sea

NASA OIB, University of Washington/SIZRS, ESA/EUMETSAT, UAF, WHOI/BGEP

NASA OIB 2016

Univ Washington/SIZRS

BGEP ULS data

Leuliette et al., 2016

Conducted flight along SIZRS 150W survey line. Under-flight of Sentinel-3A orbit 0186. Satellite passed overhead at 21:48 UTC. Sample ICESat-2 ground track pattern flown along the “UAF racetrack” offshore Barrow, AK. Over flight of BGEP ULS moorings BGOS-A and BGOS-D.

03 May 2016

North Pole Transect

Central Arctic, between Greenland and North Pole

NASA OIB, ESA

NASA OIB 2016

CryoSat-2 under-flight

 

Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit. 3-hour time difference between CryoSat-2 and OIB acquisitions.

13 July 2016

SIZRS

Beaufort Sea

NASA OIB, University of Washington/SIZRS, WHOI/BGEP

NASA OIB Summer 2016

Univ Washington/SIZRS

BGEP ULS data

OIB/DMS surface melt classification data

Buckley et al., 2020

Conducted flight along SIZRS 150W survey line. The Coast Guard C-130 with the SIZRS experiment passed near at 21:33Z. Over flight of BGEP ULS moorings GAM1 at 20:07Z and NBGOSB at 20:43Z.

14 July 2016

Buoy Farm

Beaufort Sea

NASA OIB, University of Washington, ESA

NASA OIB Summer 2016

Univ. Washington buoy cluster

OIB/DMS surface melt classification data CryoSat-2 under-flight

Buckley et al., 2020

Conducted flight to survey cluster of University of Washington buoys. The first pass across the buoys was conducted at 21:01Z, with a second pass at 21:06Z. Entered CryoSat-2 orbit at 21:51Z, a short time before the satellite passed overhead. CryoSat-2 passed over at 22:34Z. Latency was therefore less than ~43 minutes.

19 July 2016

Clean Up

Beaufort Sea

NASA OIB, ESA

NASA OIB Summer 2016

OIB/DMS surface melt classification data CryoSat-2 under-flight

Buckley et al., 2020

The CryoSat-2 satellite passed over at 2317Z, about 20 minutes after the survey line was completed.

21 July 2016

Southeast Beaufort

Beaufort Sea

NASA OIB, WHOI/BGEP

NASA OIB Summer 2016

BGEP ULS data

OIB/DMS surface melt classification data

Buckley et al., 2020

Survey line passed over BGEP mooring. Data on at 20:57Z and off at 21:10Z

12 March 2017*

North Beaufort Loop

Beaufort and Chukchi Sea

NASA OIB, WHOI/BGEP

NASA OIB 2017

BGEP ULS data Sentinel-3A under-flight

Connor et al., 2018

Over flights of BGEP ULS moorings GAM-1, BGOS-B, BGOS-C. Under-flight of Sentinel-3A at 2302Z within about 2 hours of satellite overpass.

23 March 2017

Zig Zag West

North of Alert

NASA OIB, NASA-G3

NASA OIB 2017

CryoSat-2 under-flight

 

Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit 36878. Coordinated NASA OIB and NASA G3 flight surveys.

24 March 2017*†

CryoVEx

North of Greenland

NASA OIB, AWI, ESA

NASA OIB 2017

AWI Sea Ice AEM

CryoSat-2 under-flight

 

Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit 36892. Satellite passed overhead 2.5 minutes after completing the line. AWI Polar 5 and ESA/CryoVEx twin otter coordination during CryoSat-2 overpass.

11 April 2017*

CryoVEx-2

Central Arctic, from Alert to

-150 W

NASA OIB, ESA, York University

NASA OIB 2017

CryoVEx line

CryoSat-2 under-flight

Haas et al., 2017

Skourup et al., 2019

Coordination with CryoVEx in-situ campaign. Under-flight of CryoSat-2 track 37179.

25 July 2017

Greeley North

Arctic Ocean

NASA OIB, University of Washington/APL

NASA OIB Summer 2017

OIB/DMS surface melt classification data

Buckley et al., 2020

Mission followed advected sea ice from the CryoVEx-2 (11 April) and South Basin Transect (20 March) spring 2017 missions. Two buoy sites (Univ. Washington/APL) were overflown at 13:44:04Z and 13:46:31Z.

4 April 2018

North Pole Transect

Central Arctic, between Greenland and North Pole

NASA OIB, ESA, AWI, USGS and Asiaq

NASA OIB 2018

CryoSat-2 under-flight

 

Under-flight of southwestern edge of CryoSat-2 orbit 42345 which occurred 1 hour and 54 minutes prior. Also collected data at a study site on shore-fast ice near Alert in conjunction with CryoVEx and AWI, short segment in Inglefield Land to support a hydrology study, and a site NE of Thule for USGS/Asiaq.

7 April 2018

North Beaufort Loop

Beaufort and Chukchi Sea

NASA OIB, WHOI/BGEP

NASA OIB 2018

BGEP ULS data

buoy cluster

Sentinel-3A under-flight

Connor et al., 2018

Overflew BGEP ULS moorings GAM-1, BGOS-B, and BGOS-C. Mission modified to overfly a buoy cluster, as well as to underfly the Sentinel-3A at 22:26:57Z (7 minutes after OIB)

8 April 2018

Chukchi West

Chukchi Sea

NASA OIB, NRL

NASA OIB 2018

NRL ICEX 2018 ice camp

buoy cluster

Mahoney et al., 2018

Mission modified to fly over a buoy cluster and the completed ICEX survey area. Buoy cluster was passed over at 20:12:23Z and the ICEX camp was passed over at 20:21Z.

6 April 2019

Zig Zag East

N Greenland & Lincoln Sea

NASA OIB, ESA

NASA OIB 2019

CryoSat-2 under-flight

 

Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbits 47671 (latency of 2 hrs, 44 min before OIB) & 47672 (latency of 2 hrs, 55 min before OIB).

8 April 2019

Arc Ocean 1: Racetrack

Canadian Archipelago W/NW of Eureka

NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2

NASA OIB 2019

ICESat-2 under-flight

Kwok et al., 2019

Duncan and Farrell, 2020

Under-flight of ICESat-2 RGT 157 with zero latency. Surveyed beams 1L and 2L three times each.

12 April 2019

Arc Ocean 2: Racetrack

Central Arctic Ocean

NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2

NASA OIB 2019

ICESat-2 under-flight

Kwok et al., 2019

Under-flight of ICESat-2 RGT 218 with 2 minutes latency. Satellite passed overhead at 13:03 UTC. Surveyed beams 1L and 2L three times each with a 425-meter offset.

19 April 2019

Arc Ocean 3: Long Line

From Canadian Archipelago to west of north pole

NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2

NASA OIB 2019

ICESat-2 under-flight

Kwok et al., 2019

Duncan and Farrell, 2020

Under-flight of ICESat-2 RGT 325 with zero latency at 13:10:46 UTC. Corrected course for sea ice drift relative to time since ICESat-2's passing multiple times during flight.

20 April 2019

Nansen Gap

Fram Strait Gateway

NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA

NASA OIB 2019

Sentinel-3B under-flight

Egido et al., 2019

Under-flight of Sentinel-3B with zero latency at 15:00:34 UTC.

22 April 2019

Arc Ocean 4: Long Line

Central Arctic Ocean

NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2

NASA OIB 2019

ICESat-2 under-flight

Kwok et al., 2019

Farrell et al., 2020

Duncan and Farrell, 2020

Under-flight of ICESat-2 RGT 371 with 38 minutes latency.

9 September 2019

Racetrack West

N Greenland

NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2

ICESat-2 under-flight

 

Under-flight of ICESat-2 RGT 1123 with zero latency. At 14:57:17 Z AVIRIS/IS-2 on the B200 and ICESat-2 overflew OIB

* Indicates mission involving the collection of complementary in situ data on sea ice. In cases where data are publicly available the link to in situ data source is included.

† Indicates a European Space Agency (ESA) CryoVal-Sea Ice Golden Day, defined as missions involving multiple, coordinated aircraft surveys of sea ice along coincident CryoSat-2 orbits (Haas et al., 2016).

Source: Farrell, S. L. and K. Duncan (University of Maryland), J. Richter-Menge (University of Alaska Fairbanks), June 2021.