Connecting remote sensing, Inuit Knowledge, and in-situ observations for monitoring landfast sea ice fracture development in Admiralty Inlet, Nunavut

Fractures in landfast ice in the Canadian Arctic range from a few cm to several km wide. Currently, few remote sensing methods identify fractures at spatial and temporal scales relevant for on-ice travelers (meter and synoptic scales, respectively). We connect remotely sensed data (interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), optical imagery), Inuit Knowledge, and in-situ observations to identify fractures in landfast ice in Admiralty Inlet, Nunavut throughout the ice season (December–July) from 2018–2023. Community partnerships enabled the collection of in-situ observations of fractures and interpretation of remote sensing data using Inuit Knowledge. This approach facilitated a broader understanding of how fractures appear across different types of remote sensing data and throughout the ice season. We observed a clear seasonal cycle in the formation, refreezing or ridging, and (re)opening of fractures in all years. Locations of recurring features identified from remote sensing matched well with recurring features identified from Inuit Knowledge, but emergent fractures not yet embedded in Inuit Knowledge were also observed in the remote sensing data. Inuit project partners emphasized that the recent emergence of fractures in unexpected locations poses a safety hazard for sea ice travel and stressed the need for near real-time monitoring of these features.