Shipborne visual observations of Arctic sea ice

Ice Watch is coordinating the collection and archival of visual sea ice observations recorded on ships in the Northern Hemisphere. Open source software, Arctic Shipborne Sea Ice Standardization Tool (ASSIST), can be used by observers to record sea ice conditions. International vessels report near real-time observations of ice concentration, ice thickness, stage of growth or melt, surface roughness and many other variables. The observation method is extended from the ASPeCt observation protocol, with additional observation fields added to document the stage of melt of sea ice. The majority of cruises are during the summer melt season and on-set of ice growth in September and October. The standard observation protocol and program to coordinate data collection is documented in the companion manuscript to this data set. Northern hemisphere data submitted to the Ice Watch program, via icewatch.gina.alaska.edu, will be archived in records with the label 'ASSIST'.