Glossary
The English version of our glossary is currently under construction and will be regularly updated.
Ice concentration
The ratio (expressed in tenths) of the ice-covered surface to the overall water surface at a given time and in a discrete area.
The ice concentration is normally presented as a percentage (0 to 1 / 0 to 100%) or sometimes in tenths (0/10 to 10/10). A value of 0 means there is no sea ice, while a value of 100 (or 1 or 10) represents seamless ice cover.
Examples
- compact pack ice, concentration 10/10, no water visible
- compressed pack ice, concentration 10/10, ice floes have frozen together
- very dense pack ice, concentration 9/10 to less than 9+/10.
- dense pack ice, concentration 7/10 to 8/10, floes mostly in contact
- open pack ice, concentration 4/10 to 6/10, numerous leads and polynyas, ice floes generally not in contact
- very open pack ice, concentration 1/10 to 3/10.