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 |
(F11) |
Canada Basin |
NOAA, NASA, UCL |
NOAA CBSIT Experiment: Envisat under-flight |
Out-and-back flight along Envisat orbit: ~470 m (OUT), ~760 m (RTN) |
|
25 April 2009* |
(F15) |
Land-fast ice north of |
NOAA, NASA, CRREL, DTU Space |
NOAA CBSIT Experiment: GreenArc over-flight |
In situ snow depth (magnaprobe) and ice thickness (EM31) taken at 5-meter intervals along 2-km-long survey line |
|
5 April 2010 |
(F08) |
Canada Basin |
NOAA, NASA OIB, ESA, UCL |
Envisat under-flight |
Out-and-back flight along Envisat orbit: ~425 m (OUT), ~380 m (RTN) |
|
20 April 2010 |
(F14) |
Central Arctic |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA, UCL |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
Out-and-back flight along CryoSat-2 orbit: ~7620 m (OUT), ~460 m (RTN). ATM and LVIS onboard NASA DC-8. |
|
16 March 2011 |
(F01) |
Canada Basin |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA |
Envisat under-flight |
Out-and-back flight along Envisat orbit: ~470 m (OUT), ~5300 m (RTN) |
|
17 March 2011† |
(F02) |
North of Alert |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit: 4979 at ~ 460 m altitude. Cloud conditions marginal. |
|
23 March 2011* |
(F05) |
Beaufort Sea |
NASA OIB, NOAA, NRL, CRREL |
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*† |
(F20) |
North of Alert |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA, UCL, York University, DTU Space, AWI |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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* |
(F02) |
Barrow, AK |
NASA OIB, JPL, CRREL, University of Washington/APL |
BRomine, Ozone, and Mercury EXperiement (BROMEX) |
In situ snow depth (magnaprobe) and ice thickness (EM31) |
|
15 March 2012† |
(F02) |
Chukchi Sea |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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 |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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 |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
ESA CryoVal Golden Day: Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit 10346 at ~460 m altitude. |
|
22 March 2012 |
(F07) |
Canada Basin |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA |
Envisat under-flight |
Out-and-back flight along Envisat orbit: ~470 m (OUT), ~470 m (RTN) |
|
26 March 2012† |
(F09) |
Central Basin |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA |
CryoSat-2 under-flight (SARin mode) |
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 |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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) |
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† |
(F12) |
Lincoln Sea |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA, York University, DTU Space, AWI |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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† |
(F14) |
Fram Strait |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA, NOAA, York University, DTU Space, AWI |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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 |
(F16) |
East Greenland Sea |
NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2 |
MABEL (NASA photon counting LiDAR) data used in algorithm development for ICESat-2 |
||
20 March 2013† |
(F01) |
Lincoln Sea, North of Alert |
NASA OIB, ESA |
(data collected in grid) CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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* |
(F05) |
Barrow, AK |
NASA OIB, University of Washington/APL, NRL, University of Delaware |
In situ snow depth and sea ice thickness |
||
22 April 2013 |
(F22) |
Canada Basin |
NASA OIB, MEDEA |
Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis (MEDEA) |
Very-high resolution imagery collected same day as OIB mission |
|
24 April 2013† |
(F24) |
Central Basin |
NASA OIB, ESA |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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 |
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* |
(F05) |
Barrow, AK (Offshore site and land-fast ice) |
NASA OIB, CRREL, NRL |
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) DISTANCE |
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* |
(F06) |
Canada Basin |
NASA OIB, CRREL, ONR, NRL, ESA, York University |
In situ snow depth (magnaprobe) and ice thickness (EM31). CryoVEx experiment completed on 21 March 2014. |
||
25 March 2014* |
(F10) |
Eureka Sound |
NASA OIB, ECCC |
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† |
(F11) |
North of Alert |
NASA OIB, ESA, DTU Space, York University |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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 |
Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis (MEDEA) |
Time-series of very-high resolution imagery. Data collection initiated on 8 April 2014 and continued through melt season. |
|
31 March 2014*† |
(F13) |
Cape Morris Jesup |
NASA OIB, ESA, York University |
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 |
Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis (MEDEA) |
Time-series of very-high resolution imagery. Data collection initiated on 8 April 2014 and continued through melt season. |
|
19 March 2015* |
Fram Strait |
NASA OIB, NPI |
In situ snow depth and ice thickness |
|||
24 March 2015* |
Station Nord |
NASA OIB, University of Manitoba |
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 |
Central Arctic, between North Pole and Greenland |
NASA OIB, ESA |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit on return leg of mission |
||
29 March 2015* |
Barrow, AK |
NASA OIB, WHOI/BGEP, NRL |
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) field site |
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 |
Beaufort Sea |
NASA OIB, University of Washington/SIZRS, WHOI/BGEP |
Conducted flight along SIZRS 150W survey line. Over flights of BGEP ULS moorings BGOS-A and BGOS-D. |
|||
19 April 2016* |
Eureka Sound, Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
NASA OIB, ECCC, NOAA |
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 |
Beaufort Sea |
NASA OIB, University of Washington/SIZRS, ESA/EUMETSAT, UAF, WHOI/BGEP |
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 |
Central Arctic, between Greenland and North Pole |
NASA OIB, ESA |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit. 3-hour time difference between CryoSat-2 and OIB acquisitions. |
||
13 July 2016 |
Beaufort Sea |
NASA OIB, University of Washington/SIZRS, WHOI/BGEP |
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 |
Beaufort Sea |
NASA OIB, University of Washington, ESA |
Univ. Washington buoy cluster OIB/DMS surface melt classification data CryoSat-2 under-flight |
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 |
Beaufort Sea |
NASA OIB, ESA |
OIB/DMS surface melt classification data CryoSat-2 under-flight |
The CryoSat-2 satellite passed over at 2317Z, about 20 minutes after the survey line was completed. |
||
21 July 2016 |
Beaufort Sea |
NASA OIB, WHOI/BGEP |
Survey line passed over BGEP mooring. Data on at 20:57Z and off at 21:10Z |
|||
12 March 2017* |
Beaufort and Chukchi Sea |
NASA OIB, WHOI/BGEP |
BGEP ULS data Sentinel-3A under-flight |
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 |
North of Alert |
NASA OIB, NASA-G3 |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
Under-flight of CryoSat-2 orbit 36878. Coordinated NASA OIB and NASA G3 flight surveys. |
||
24 March 2017*† |
North of Greenland |
NASA OIB, AWI, ESA |
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 |
CryoSat-2 under-flight |
Coordination with CryoVEx in-situ campaign. Under-flight of CryoSat-2 track 37179. |
|
25 July 2017 |
Arctic Ocean |
NASA OIB, University of Washington/APL |
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 |
Central Arctic, between Greenland and North Pole |
NASA OIB, ESA, AWI, USGS and Asiaq |
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 |
Beaufort and Chukchi Sea |
NASA OIB, WHOI/BGEP |
buoy cluster Sentinel-3A under-flight |
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 Sea |
NASA OIB, NRL |
NRL ICEX 2018 ice camp buoy cluster |
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 |
N Greenland & Lincoln Sea |
NASA OIB, ESA |
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 |
Canadian Archipelago W/NW of Eureka |
NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2 |
Under-flight of ICESat-2 RGT 157 with zero latency. Surveyed beams 1L and 2L three times each. |
|||
12 April 2019 |
Central Arctic Ocean |
NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2 |
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 |
From Canadian Archipelago to west of north pole |
NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2 |
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 |
Fram Strait Gateway |
NASA OIB, NOAA, ESA |
Sentinel-3B under-flight |
Under-flight of Sentinel-3B with zero latency at 15:00:34 UTC. |
||
22 April 2019 |
Central Arctic Ocean |
NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2 |
Under-flight of ICESat-2 RGT 371 with 38 minutes latency. |
|||
9 September 2019 |
N Greenland |
NASA OIB, NASA ICESat-2 |
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.