Verification of Sea Ice Drift Data Obtained from Remote Sensing Information

The article compares the ice drift detected based on the satellite information, with the data of instrumental measurements in the shelf seas of the Russian Arctic. It is proposed to use the vector correlation and vector RMSE to verify the vector series. The results of the comparison of ice drift vectors detected on the basis of satellite images with instrumental measurements showed that all involved databases (Polar Pathfinder, IFREMER and OSI SAF) describe the ice drift in the shelf seas of the Russian Arctic adequately: the vector correlation coefficient for all data exceeded 0.7, the deviations of the coordinate systems did not exceed 11°, the systematic error was less than 4 cm/s, the semimajor axis of the random error did not exceed 9 cm/s. All three products under consideration can be used to study the synoptic and seasonal variability of drift. The IFREMER data showed the best compliance with the instrumental data.