Forecast Products
Creating an accurate forecast of ice is essential to supporting
the NIC's military, government, an commercial customers. Specifically movement
of the ice edge is important for safety of navigation
and route planning.
Many NIC products include a 5-day, 10-day or 30-day forecast. Forecast
models
and products developed by the scientific community are an important
element the NIC ice forecast.
Nowcast Products
Driven by the Navy's requirement to support the submarine
fleet, the NIC provides a number of daily products that require a current
snapshot of ice conditions. Nowcast products supply this data in near
real
time to enhance the quality of NIC products.
Buoy Data
While Nowcast and Forecast tools are valuable in creation
of NIC products, it is critical to incorporate observational data from
the Arctic as a ground truth source of data for temperature, pressure,
and ice
drift. The buoys of the International
Arctic Buoy Programme supply this data to the NIC.
