Daily Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) and Overlay Shapefile

A GIS format that contains analyzed ice lines and ice concentration data derived from USNIC daily ice analysis. Two GIS shapefiles created:

• MIZ Shapefile - contains ice lines at the ice edge and pack ice (ice concentration 80% and greater) boundaries.
• Ice Edge Shapefile - contains an ice line that separates ice from no ice.

Daily KMZ Files

Two KMZ files are created with attributes defined by ice concentration.

• Colorfill KMZ - contains color-defined ice areas for the marginal ice zone (concentration up to 80%) in yellow and pack ice (ice concentration 80% and greater) in red
• Vector KMZ - contains color-defined ice lines for the ice edge in yellow and the marginal ice zone (concentration up to 80%) and pack ice boundary (ice concentration 80% and greater) in red.

Weekly Antarctic Shapefile

A GIS shapefile that contains vector and attribute data that separates ice conditions based on total concentration, stage of development (ice types) with respective concentrations, and forms of ice.

Weekly Antarctic KMZ

The Antarctic KMZ file is created off the USNIC Weekly Antarctic ice analysis. The files contain SIGRID-3 information on ice conditions that are separated into total ice concentration, ice types with their respective concentrations, and ice floe size.

Daily Text Files

Text files are based off the USNIC daily Antarctic ice analysis. Files created are in text latitude / longitude pairs for portability and can be parsed into various platforms and programs. The following are a detail of file contents and format:

• ASCII Format - general text format that outlines the ice edge to the nearest 1/10th of a degree.
  • South ASCII - outlines the ice edge
• Rainform OTH Format - text format with a DoD defined header
  • MIZ - outlines ice edge and marginal ice zone (concentration up to 80%) boundaries within the Arctic.
  • Ice Extent - outlines ice edge boundary