Overview

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) was established in June 1995 under the framework of the U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation. In January 1996, the EWG Arctic Climatology Group took on the task of compiling digital data on arctic regions to expand scientific understanding of the Arctic. This work resulted in a set of three atlases on CD-ROM. The one described here for sea ice plus two others: one for Arctic oceanography and and one for Arctic meteorology and climate. The contents of this CD-ROM is available for digital download from NSIDC FTP. Note: This online user guide is an overview of the Atlas and was prepared by NSIDC based on the complete documentation available as part of the digital download. Please refer to the User Notes and Frequently Asked Questions for important information on working with the atlas.

U.S. and Russian partners developed the EWG Joint U.S.-Russian Arctic Sea Ice Atlas. The U.S. Navy submarine and Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC) community strongly supported this project. The U.S. Arctic Submarine Laboratory and the National Ice Center (NIC)/Naval Ice Center (NAVICE)--a joint agency supported by the U.S. Navy, NOAA, and the U.S. Coast Guard--prepared the data. The Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in St. Petersburg contributed sea ice data and analyses. The Environmental Research Institute in Michigan designed and compiled the CD-ROM and served as managing editor of the project. The EWG project goals were to use all available data, including previously restricted information, to improve understanding of arctic climatology; to use this information to validate General Circulation Models (GCMs); and to improve predictions of ocean pollution transport at high latitudes. The EWG Subgroup for Arctic Climatology worked to digitize and assemble a significant portion of the Russian hydrographic, sea ice, and meteorological data resources for the Arctic Basin and marginal seas; develop an atlas containing primary data and derived products; and to pursue scientific analysis of climatic forecasting and risk assessment.

The U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation initiated the EWG as part of a commitment in the U.S. and Russia to combine scientific strengths and previously restricted environmental data resources. A team of Russian and U.S. scientists, working together under the EWG, signed a protocol in St. Petersburg on 29 November 1995 to develop the oceanography, sea ice, and meteorology atlases. The EWG released oceanography atlases for winter and summer on 15 March 1997 and 15 March 1998, respectively. The EWG released this sea ice atlas and a meteorology atlas in October 2000 as a joint U.S.-Russian effort. The combined EWG Arctic Ocean data sets allow scientists to investigate many aspects of the Arctic that were previously inaccessible, particularly the heat balance and circulation of the complex arctic climate system. The sea ice atlas is based on individual observations collected from 1950 to 1994 from Russian satellite data, ice stations, ice breakers, and airborne ice surveys. Developers also used U.S. satellite observations, airborne surveys, and declassified U.S. Navy submarine Upward Looking Sonar (ULS) data in the construction of this atlas. Particular data sources included operational ice charts from the U.S. National Ice Center (NIC) and the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI); ice drift products from the International Arctic Buoy Program (IABP); and sea ice draft products from the U.S. Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory.