| MMS ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM: ONGOING STUDIES | ||||||
| MMS OCS Region: | Alaska (Other) | |||||
| Title: |
Alaska Sea Ice Atlas |
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| Total Cost: |
$209,661 |
Period of Performance: | FY 2000-2006 | |||
| Conducting Organization: | University of Alaska, Anchorage-Anchorage, Alaska | |||||
| MMS Contact: | ||||||
| MMS Needs Addressed MMS will be better able to review development and production plans with the most up-to-date ice data. |
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| Description: | ||||||
| Background The most recent compilation of ice data information for the U.S. Beaufort Sea included a Beaufort Sea Atlas (compiled by Sohio in 1984) and an Alaskan Ice Atlas covering 1970-1983. In 1995, the National Ice Center (NIC) digitized the 1972 – 1994 unclassified hardcopy sea ice chart archive using services provided by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, NC. The charts were digitized as vector data, and then converted to ASCII gridded fields in the World Meteorological Organization’s Sea Ice in Gridded Format. These data have 25 km resolution. Biweekly ice coverages are currently available from the National Ice Center in ARC/INFO for the years 1996-1999. Digital files of historical records may also exist with the Canadian Ice Center for the Beaufort Sea. . Historical records of summer ice severity in the Alaskan Beaufort now date back to 1952 (44 years). Evidence shows that the 1990's have produced mild summers in keeping with warmer record temperatures worldwide. These changes in temperature need to be factored into MMS Beaufort Sea activities, both for lease sales EIS’s and subsequent exploration or development and production activities. These conditions must be included in an updated modern summary of ice condition in the Beaufort Sea and along the Alaskan coast. Information has not been updated/consolidated since the mid-1980's. The budget for this study assumes 25 percent participation from other interested agencies. |
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| Objectives The goal of the study is to provide accurate high resolution digital sea ice products for the Beaufort Sea. The data will be used to evaluate ice conditions for current and proposed oil and gas development plans, review exploration plans, and for EIS’s. The sea ice data will be incorporated into the MMS environmental database, accessible by ARC/INFO/ArcView. Specific objectives include: 1. Compiling and quantifying sea ice data collected from the 1970’s through the 1990’s into digital and geospatial formats. 2. Providing up-to-date description of Beaufort Sea ice environment for ongoing and future activities. |
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Methods
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| Current Status The University conducted the information gathering from other agencies and private entities. The web site has been developed and the data displayed on the following web site: http://holmes-iv.engr.uaa.alaska.edu/. The web site contains meteorological data and user interface from all first order meteorological stations for the State of Alaska. The web site also contains arc/info and shapefiles for ice concentrations and other ice variables from 1972-2000. Scanned copies of ice surveys from 1954 to 1972 are also on the web site. The draft web site user manual is being reviewed. |
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| Final Report Due: |
3/9/2006 |
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| Publications: | Introduction to the Alaska Sea Ice
Atlas Orson P. Smith, William J. Lee, Joshua Rogers, Cherie Northon, Thom Eley, Shirley Shryack Risk Analysis Features of the Alaska Sea Ice Atlas Orson P. Smith and William J. Lee A GIS-Based Alaska Sea Ice Atlas William J. Lee and Orson P. Smith |
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| Affiliated WWW Sites | http://holmes-iv.engr.uaa.alaska.edu/default.htm | |||||
| Revised date | March 9, 2006 | |||||
| ESPIS |
ESPIS - All completed
ESP Studies: |
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