Data on Physical Properties of Sea Ice in the Northern Barents Sea and Adjacent Arctic Basin From the Nansen Legacy Project

Abstract

Recent decline of sea ice in the Barents Sea represents a clear manifestation of the ongoing Arctic warming. This study presents a compilation of data sets on sea ice physics acquired during 2018–2022 during Nansen Legacy—a Norwegian multidisciplinary national research programme that focused on the northern Barents Sea. The data were acquired using a variety of methods such as sea ice coring, thickness drillings, snow pits, snow depth surveys, drone flights, on-ice and helicopter-borne electromagnetic measurements of sea ice thickness, and ice draft measurements by bottom-anchored moorings. The collected data sets cover several key physical parameters describing the sea ice cover and encompass a range of spatial (local to regional) and temporal (daily to annual) scales. These data sets aid in filling a substantial knowledge gap of recent sea ice conditions in the rapidly changing northern Barents Sea region.