Local sea-ice experts, who are also experienced hunters and community
leaders, provide daily written sea-ice observations assisting this project
to more thoroughly understand the evolution of the local seasonal ice zone
from a user perspective. These observations help in identifying key dates
in the annual evolution of the local ice cover, such as the first
appearance of slush ice or the beginning of break-up. Observations help to
assess ice stability as specific notes are kept related to deformation
events and the distribution of key features such as grounded ridges or
multiyear ice floes. In addition to the collection of written
observations, interviews are performed with other experienced members of
the communities, especially during our efforts to summarize the state of
the local sea-ice cover for a given year. Local experts also provide
general guidance for our field research campaigns and often take part in
the on-ice collection of some of our geophysical-based datasets, such as
the EM thickness surveys. Both the written ice observations and
transcripts from interviews are being entered into an ice observation
database where they are archived in a searchable format.
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