Arctic shipping glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms used in POLARROUTE AI.
- Northern Sea Route (NSR)
- Arctic shipping route along Russia’s northern coast linking East Asia and Europe.
- Northwest Passage (NWP)
- Route through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago linking the Atlantic and Pacific.
- Sea-ice concentration
- Share of an area covered by ice; 15% is commonly used as the ice edge.
- AMSR2
- Microwave radiometer on Japan’s GCOM-W satellite; sees sea ice through cloud and polar night.
- Freezing degree days (FDD)
- Daily sum of how far temperature falls below freezing; used to estimate ice thickness.
- First-year / multi-year ice
- Ice formed in one winter vs. ice that survived a summer; multi-year ice is harder and thicker.
- POLARIS
- IMO’s Polar Operational Limit Assessment Risk Indexing System (MSC.1/Circ.1519).
- RIO
- Risk Index Outcome, the POLARIS risk index.
- RIV
- Risk Index Value for each ice class and ice type.
- Ice class
- A ship’s capability to operate in ice: polar classes PC1–PC7, Baltic IA Super, IA, etc.
- Polar Code
- IMO’s International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters.
- Icebreaker escort
- An icebreaker leading a merchant ship through ice.
- Polar night
- Period in winter at high latitudes when the sun does not rise.
- ERA5
- ECMWF’s global atmospheric reanalysis.
- A* search
- Algorithm that finds the lowest-cost path from start to goal.
- CII
- IMO Carbon Intensity Indicator rating a ship’s annual operational CO2 efficiency.
- VOC
- Vessel Operations Center, where a shipping company manages fleet operations.
- AIS
- Automatic Identification System broadcasting ship position and speed.
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