Scope and Contents: The Birdseye collection consists of aerial photographs and corresponding data gathered primarily from areas in and around Baffin Bay, the Labrador Sea, the Arctic Ocean, the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, and the Bearing Sea and Strait.  The photographs comprise over 100 canisters of film which have been digitized, in addition to two boxes of flight data logs and maps.  The project was commissioned by the U. S. Navy Polar Oceanography Group from April 1970 to July 1974.  Project Birdseye was designed to improve techniques for ice observation, refine forecasting techniques, and to collect data for military Arctic operations.  Flight tracks varied by mission and covered predetermined areas.  Data was collected using visual observation; laser profiling; radar plotting; infrared, radar and microwave imagery; and photographs.  Data was used to determine ice surface roughness, types of ice features, and ice-type distribution.  However, the photographs are the only comprehensive surviving data as the other forms were either destroyed or lost. While the photograph collection was housed at the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) an index was compiled with detailed information regarding the contents of each film canister including quality, location, and date of collection.  This index is now available in spreadsheet form.