Polar View

Sea ice forms along the Canadian coastline. Inuit living in northern Canada hunt, fish and travel on the surface of the ice. Having regularly updated information on the extent of the ice edge provided by Polar View is important for safety reasons, particularly since climate change has been making ice conditions less predictable.

Sea ice forms along the Canadian coastline. Inuit living in northern Canada hunt, fish and travel on the surface of the ice. Having regularly updated information on the extent of the ice edge provided by Polar View is important for safety reasons, particularly since climate change has been making ice conditions less predictable.

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  • Sea ice forms along the Canadian coastline. Inuit living in northern Canada hunt, fish and travel on the surface of the ice. Having regularly updated information on the extent of the ice edge provided by Polar View is important for safety reasons, particularly since climate change has been making ice conditions less predictable.
  • Envisat. The European Space Agency's satellite for environmental monitoring
  • Sea ice in the the Antarctic. Polar View was the first organization to make high-resoultion ice charts freely available in the Antarctic.
  • The Magdalenafjorden Glacier in Svalbard, Norway. Monitoring and predicting glacier flow and runoff is vital for communities who rely on glacier runoff for drinking water and hydroelectric power. Polar View provides a view from above to assist with monitoring.
  • Testing the ice edge at Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, Canada. For millenia, indigenous hunters have relied on traditional knowledge to know when the ice freezes and breaks up, as well as where the ice is safe. As climate change alters the Arctic and its natural cycles, it has become difficult for indigenous hunters to tell when and where the ice will be safe. Polar View provides ice edge monitoring and lake ice monitoring services to Northern residents
  • Keeping track of icebergs in the North Atlantic. Along with with Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation for Newfoundland and Labrador, Polar View has created a website called Icebergfinder.com, which helps tourists and sightseeing cruise operators find majestic and scenic icebergs as they float down Labrador Sound and out into the North Atlantic.
  • Icebreaker Nordica travels the Gulf of Finland. With 17% of the EU's shipping traffic passing through the Baltic Sea, safe passage of commercial vessels is of paramount importance. Before Polar View there were no publicly available sea ice forecasts for the Baltic Sea. Polar View's member organizations in the Baltic region provid sea ice charts for immediate navigational use as well as forecasts for long-term planning.
  • Radarsat-1: The Canadian Space Agency's earth observation satellite
  • Ice Jam flooding in Badger, Newfoundland, Canada. In places where it gets cold enough for the surfaces of rivers to freeze over in winter, ice jam flooding can sometimes occur in late winter and early spring when the ice on the surface of the rivers starts to melt. When ice jam flooding occurs it can create millions of dollars in damages, which is why advance warning is so important. Polar View's satellite services monitor rivers across Canada and Siberia in order to help local river monitoring authorities get a better idea of what's happening and get advanced warning of potential flood conditions during ice break-up season.
  • British Antarctic research vessel tracks through sea ice en route to Rothera Research Station One of Polar View's main contributions to the International Polar Year was the establishment of the IPY Ice Logistics Internet Portal.
  • Aranda, a research vessel of the Finnish Institute of Marine Research travels the Baltic Sea. The Finnish Institute of Marine Research (FIMR) is one of Polar View's key partners and service providers, producing sea ice charts for the Baltic region and monitoring snowfall over northern Eurasia.
  • British Antarctic research vessel navigates the icy waters of the Antarctic. Sea ice charts are a big help to Antarctic research vessels when they conduct research in the Southern Ocean.
  • RV Lance, the Norwegian Polar Institute's research vessel, travels the icy waters of the Antarctic. With the help of IFREMER, the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) calculates backwards sea ice drift trajectories, which is a means to track the source of pollutants found in the Arctic.
  • Snow-covered area of the German Alps near Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Polar View member organization VISTA monitors snowfall in the Alps, which assists local hydrological institutions in predicting snowmelt runoff.
  • Winter hut in the snow in Svalbard, Norway. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute is one of several Polar View member organizations providing sea ice charts, which not only help ships to navigate through the Norwegian sea, but also helps sightseeing tour operators track down local wildlife for their customers.

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