Historical Sea Ice Dynamics in Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait: 1820-1889: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis

Sea ice in the Arctic is an important part of Earth’s cryosphere, creating cascading effects for the Environment and human society. Sea ice in the Arctic is particularly dynamic, influenced by multiple factors throughout time and space which is reflected in its spatial makeup and diffusion. A region which has its own particular sea ice dynamics is the region of Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait. On the western part is the sea ice protruding from the Canadian Archipelago, and on the eastern part local sea ice, in addition migratory sea ice, or ‘storis’ originating from the Arctic and traveling via the Fram Strait and West Greenland Current form in the area. For hundreds of years, humans have navigated the storis and have often written about their conditions. This provides an opportunity to model sea ice conditions in the pre-satellite era. This master’s project takes these ideas and addresses the following research goals: (1) Create a time-series map model of sea ice conditions in ArcGIS Pro from 1820-1889 utilizing the publication “The State of the Ice in Davis-Strait - 1820-1930" by C.I.H Speerschneider, including features which correspond to those described in the text. (2) Identify broad spatio-temporal trends in storis dynamics in Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait between 1820-1889, based on the textual reconstructions of “The State of the Ice in Davis-Strait - 1820-1930" by C.I.H Speerschneider. (3) Describe how these changes may have occurred based on works covered during the Literature Review Process. An effective time-series model was created for 1820-1889, with a comparative analysis done with supplemental data for 1890-2025 which illuminated trends and potential drivers for these trends. Regular interannual variation patterns were seen for the data gathered for the main study period of 1820-1889 about storis seasonality, northernmost latitude of storis each year, and timing of northernmost storis. When compared to later trends to the modern day, there has been a recorded shortening of the storis season, along with slight declines in northernmost positionings of storis for a given year with earlier timings in the year for these occurrences.