Your Observation and Report
The ship continues to move northward and sea ice has been present for the last 4 hours. Standing at your viewpoint on the Kearsarge, you can see floating sea ice of various sizes as well as some land origin ice in the distance.
Use the photograph to answer this question. What type of sea ice is shown? Choose the best answer.
The correct answer is c).
The image shows first-year ice. It is more than 30 cm thick and has flat, steep pressure edges.
Based on the image and tables provided, how would you encode the sea ice and land origin ice conditions? Type your answer in the boxes, then click Done.
The concentration/arrangement of sea ice: Ci is 3. 4/10 to 6/10 (3/8 to less than 6/8), open pack ice.
The stage of development of sea ice: Si is 5. All thin first-year ice (30 to 70 cm thick) based on the color and thickness.
The ice of land origin code: bi is 1, with 1-5 icebergs, and no growlers or bergy bits. A large iceberg is visible at about the 11:00 position from the ship.
The true bearing of the principal ice edge: Di is 1. The ship is moving to the north and most the ice edge is oriented northeast.
The present ice situation and trend of conditions: zi is 0. The ship is and has been in open water with floating ice for the past 4 hours.
Ice Arrangement Ci
| Ci -- Concentration or Arrangement of Sea Ice in Priority Order NOTE: When reporting code figures 9 through 6:
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| 9 | Fast ice with close or very close pack ice to seaward of the ice boundary |
| 8 | Fast ice with open water, very open or open pack ice to seaward of the ice |
| 7 | Strips and patches of close or very close pack ice with areas of lesser concentration between |
| 6 | Strips and patches of pack ice with open water between |
NOTE: When reporting code figures 5 through 2:
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| 5 | 9/10 or more, but not 10/10 (7/8 to less than 8/8), very close pack ice |
| 4 | 7/10 to 8/10 (6/8 to less than 7/8), close pack ice |
| 3 | 4/10 to 6/10 (3/8 to less than 6/8), open pack ice |
| 2 | Sea ice present in concentrations less than 3/10 (3/8), open water or very open pack ice |
| NOTE: Remaining codes follow: | |
| 1 | Ship in open lead more than 1.0 NM, (also code Di = 0) or, ship in fast ice with boundary beyond limit of visibility (also code Di = 9) |
| 0 | No sea ice in sight |
| / | Unable to report, because of darkness, lack of visibility, or because ship is more than 0.5 NM from ice edge |
Ice Development Si
| Si -- Stage of development of Sea Ice in Priority Order | |
| 9 | Predominantly old ice |
| 8 | Predominantly medium and thick first-year ice with some old ice (usually more than 2 meters thick) |
| 7 | All medium and thick first year ice |
| 6 | Predominantly medium first-year ice (70 to 120cm thick) and thick first year ice (greater than 120cm thick) with some thinner (young) first year ice |
| 5 | All thin first-year ice (30 to 70cm thick) |
| 4 | Predominantly thin first-year ice with some new and/or young ice |
| 3 | Predominantly new and/or young ice with some first-year ice |
| 2 | Young ice (grey ice, grey-white ice), 10 to 30cm thick |
| 1 | Nilas or ice rind, less than lO cm thick |
| 0 | New ice only (frazil ice, grease ice, slush, shuga) |
| / | Unable to report, because of darkness, low visibility, only ice of land origin is visible, or because ship is more than 0.5 nautical miles away from ice edge |
Land Origin Ice bi
| bi -- Ice of land origin in Priority Order | |
| 9 | More than 20 icebergs with growlers and bergy bits, a major hazard to navigation |
| 8 | 11-20 icebergs with growlers and bergy bits |
| 7 | 6-10 icebergs with growlers and bergy bits |
| 6 | 1-5 icebergs with growlers and bergy bits |
| 5 | More than 10 growlers and bergy bits, no icebergs |
| 4 | Up to and including 10 growlers and bergy bits, no icebergs |
| 3 | 11-20 icebergs, no growlers or bergy bits |
| 2 | 6-10 icebergs, no growlers or bergy bits |
| 1 | 1-5 icebergs, no growlers or bergy bits |
| 0 | No ice of land origin |
| / | Unable to report, because of darkness, low visibility, or because only sea ice is visible |
Ice Edge Di
| Di -- True Bearing of Principal Ice Edge | |
| 0 | Ship in shore or flaw lead |
| 1 | Principal ice edge towards NE |
| 2 | Principal ice edge towards E |
| 3 | Principal ice edge towards SE |
| 4 | Principal ice edge towards S |
| 5 | Principal ice edge towards SW |
| 6 | Principal ice edge towards W |
| 7 | Principal ice edge towards NW |
| 8 | Principal ice edge towards N |
| 9 | Not determined (ship in ice) |
| / | Unable to report, because of darkness, lack of visibility, or because only ice of land origin is visible |
Trend zi
| zi -- Present Ice Situation and Trend of Conditions over Preceding 3 hours in Priority Order | |
| 9 | Ship beset |
| 8 | Ice under moderate or severe pressure |
| 7 | Ice under slight pressure |
| 6 | Ice forming and floes freezing together |
| Code figures 5 through 1 are used for all other situations when the ship is in ice. | |
| 5 | Ship in ice difficult to penetrate, conditions not changing |
| 4 | Ship in ice difficult to penetrate, conditions improving |
| 3 | Ship in easily penetrable ice, conditions worsening |
| 2 | Ship in easily penetrable ice, conditions not changing |
| 1 | Ship in easily penetrable ice, conditions improving |
| 0 | Ship in open water with floating ice in sight |
| / | Unable to report because of darkness or lack of visibility |