Canadian Ice Service (CIS) 20130826 The SIGRID-3 vector archive format is one of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards for archiving digital ice charts in the Global Digital Sea Ice Data Bank (GDSIDB). The WMO ice chart archiving formats are the Sea Ice Grid (SIGRID) format developed in 1981 and formalized in 1989 and its successor SIGRID-2. The Canadian Ice Service digital Ice Analysis charts (Regional, Daily and Image) are encoded in SIGRID-3 and have two main components: the shapefile containing the Ice Analysis ice information (ice polygons and related attributes) and the metadata describing the Ice Analysis data under the SIGRID-3 format. The Regional, Daily and Image Analyses are all available in SIGRID-3 format. The Regional Ice Analyses have been produced since 1968; they show the estimated ice conditions at publication date (which corresponds to the valid date) for various regions across Canada. They are based on an analysis and integration of all available data on ice conditions, including weather and oceanographic information, visual observations from shore, ship and aircraft, airborne radar, satellite imagery and climatological information. The Regional Ice Analyses describe areas of differing ice conditions using the WMO ice observing standards, and indicate where significant changes in the amount, stage of development and form of the predominant ice types have occurred. The Regional Ice Analyses for the Northern Canadian Waters (Western Arctic, Eastern Arctic and Hudson Bay) are produced on a weekly basis during the summer season and since 1982 on a monthly basis for the winter season. The Regional Ice Analyses for the Southern Canadian Waters (East Coast and Great Lakes) are produced on a weekly basis during the winter season only. Regional Ice Analyses are also available in arc info coverages, data extraction grid point format, various chart formats and SIGRID-3 shapefile format. The SIGRID-3 Regional Ice Analysis products are mainly used for climate analysis, climate change studies and as input to the Global Digital Sea Ice Data Bank (GDSIDB). They can also provide ice information to marine community to enhance the safety and the efficiency of marine operations in ice-encumbered waters. 20130826 1800 00 UTC same as Publication Date Complete No changes or additions are made to the data set after the data set is distributed. If modifications are made to the data set, a new version is released along with its metadata. 39635.38408677 2687011.692206 3743636.792316 1165147.960325 none at the present time sea ice ice type ice age ice concentration form of ice floe size none at the present time Canada East Arctic Baffin Bay Davis Strait Foxe Basin Arctic Archipelego Lancaster Sound Nares Strait Foxe Basin West Arctic North West Passage Beaufort Sea Viscount Melville Sound Amundsen Gulf M'Clintock Channel Hudson Bay James Bay Hudson Strait Ungava Bay Labrador Sea Davis Strait Fobrisher Bay East Coast Gulf of St.-Lawrence St.-Lawrence River Cabot Strait Northumberland Strait Newfoundland Waters Grand Banks Great Lakes Lake Superior Lake Michigan Lake Huron Lake Erie Lake Ontario Lake St.-Clair none With accreditation from Environment Canada The first step consists on manually creating a Regional Ice Analysis coverage and incorporating data from the various source information. Automated validity checks are performed during attribute (WMO Egg code, in accordance with the World Meteorological Organization standards for reporting ice conditions) and line entry. A topological polygon build is done to clean the coverage, corrections are made (if required) and a chart is produced for manual quality control. Once completed the Regional Ice Analysis coverage is automatically converted to a shapefile, the metadata is generated and they are packaged as a SIGRID-3 product (.tar) for distribution. The ice interpretation (boundaries, concentrations, ice types and floe sizes) of Satellite and Airborne imagery is done visually with the help of climatological data, ground truthing and meteorological data. The reliability and accuracy of the data set is directly related to the availability, resolution and the affects of atmospheric (cloud, daylight, etc.) and ground (snow, rain, sea state, etc.) conditions on the source information. The source information is incorporated in the Regional Ice Analysis if the source information publication or acquisition date is plus or minus 3 days of the Regional Ice Analysis publication date. The only exception is the Regional Ice Analysis source information where we use the previous publication date. Note that the time period information for all source information represent the time period during which it was available and may or may not have been incorporated in the Regional Ice Analysis product. Canadian Space Agency (CSA) various electronic (Satellite) 19960313 still active source information acquisition date National Oceanic and Atmosphric Administration (NOAA) various hardcopy and electronic (Satellite) 19701211 still active source information acquisition date US Airforce (DMSP) various electronic (Satellite) 19990521 still active source information acquisition date NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) various electronic (Satellite) 20011101 still active source information acquisition date European Space Agency (ESA) various electronic (Satellite) 19921218 20030605 source information acquisition date European Space Agency (ESA) various electronic (Satellite) 20031009 still active source information acquisition date NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) various electronic (Satellite) 20041201 still active source information acquisition date SIP Challenger various electronic (Aircraft) 19900101 19950331 source information acquisition date Canadian Ice Service (CIS) various acetate and electronic (Aircraft) 19780213 still active source information acquisition date Canadian Ice Service (CIS) various paper, electronic (Aircraft / Helicopter) 19570614 still active source information publication date Canadian Ice Service (CIS) various paper and electronic (Satellite) 19900118 still active source information publication date Canadian Ice Service (CIS) various paper and electronic 19590216 still active source information publication date Canadian Ice Service (CIS) various paper and electronic 19680625 still active source information publication date Since 1968, Regional Ice Analyses have been compiled from numerous data sources generally acquired plus or minus three days of its publication date. Over the years, data sources have included a wide variety of satellite imagery, aerial reconnaissance and ship borne reports. Each data source and its availability over the years is described in their respective source information. The Regional Ice Analyses are presently being generated using in house software (ISIS system: ERDAS and ARC/Info). The Regional Ice Analyses for the Northern Canadian Waters (Western Arctic, Eastern Arctic and Hudson Bay) are produced on a weekly basis during the summer season and since 1982 on a monthly basis for the winter season. The Regional Ice Analyses for the Southern Canadian Waters (East Coast and Great Lakes) are produced on a weekly basis during the winter season only. D_WGS_1984 WGS_1984 6378137.000000 298.257224 Lambert Conformal Conic 49 77 -100 40 0 0 0.11118 0.11118 meters CIS Regional Ice Analyses in SIGRID-3 format The SIGRID-3 vector archive format is one of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards for archiving digital ice charts in the Global Digital Sea Ice Data Bank (GDSIDB). The WMO ice chart archiving formats are the Sea Ice Grid (SIGRID) format developed in 1981 and formalized in 1989 and its successor SIGRID-2. A Regional Ice Analysis encoded in SIGRID-3 has two main components: the shapefile containing the Regional Ice Analysis ice information (ice polygons and related attributes) and the metadata describing the Regional Ice Analyses data under the SIGRID-3 format. A shapefile consists of three core files (but may include several optional files). Each file in the set shares the shapefile name with a different extension. The main file (*.shp) stores shape geometry and must always have an index file (*.shx). A database file (*.dbf) stores all the attributes of the shapes in the main file. SIGRID-3 uses the widely accepted, public domain eXtensible Markup Language (XML) for metadata (information on the Regional Ice Analysis and how it was generated). A file in XML stores the metadata that pertains to each Regional Ice Analysis. Metadata includes projection, location, keywords, and contact information. A file in XML can be read using a web browser, and it is easy to make it available for searches via the Internet. To archive a Regional Ice Analysis in SIGRID-3 (.tar), four files are required: three for the Regional Ice Analysis in shapefile format (.shp,.shx,.dbf) and one for the metadata (xml). The database file consists of a set of mandatory and optional fields which are described in the Entity Type Definition Source and are listed below. As per SIGRID standards: undetermined or unknown applicable fields are reported as "99", empty applicable fields are reported as "-9" and empty or unknown non applicable fields are reported as null. Two new attributes (COVSHP_ , COVSHP_ID) are added to the list of SIGRID-3 attributes during the automatic conversion of the Regional Ice Analysis from coverage to shapefile. They are both sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated by the ESRI conversion tool (as is the FID Label). For more information, please refer to the SIGRID-3: A Vector Archive Format for Sea Ice Charts Developed by the International Ice Charting Working Groups Ad Hoc Format Team for the WMO "Global Digital Sea Ice Data Bank" project (WMO/TD-No. 1214, 2004) FID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. AREA Area of polygons WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI PERIMETER Perimeter of polygon WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI COVSHP_ Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. COVSHP_ID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. CT Total concentration of all ice in the area WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI CA Partial concentration of thickest ice WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI SA Stage of development of thickest ice WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI FA Form of ice corresponding to SA WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI CB Partial concentration of second thickest ice WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI SB Stage of development of second thickest ice WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI FB Form of ice corresponding to SB WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI CC Partial concentration of third thickest ice WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI SC Stage of development of third thickest ice WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI FC Form of ice corresponding to SC WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI CN Stage of development of ice thicker than SA but with concentration less than 1/10 WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI CD Stage of development of any remaining ice class of ice not reported by SA, SB, SC or CN WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI CF Predominant and secondary form of ice WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI POLY_TYPE Surface Type WMO JCOMM ETSI SIGRID-3 WMO JCOMM ETSI 20110721 Canadian Ice Service (CIS) mailing and physical address

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Ottawa Ontario K1A 0H3 Canada 1-800-767-2885 1-613-947-9160 cis-scg.client@ec.gc.ca FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 20110721 12000000 20110721