FOREWORD 



Interest in arctic problems requires shipping to enter 

 areas where sea ice restricts certain types of surface move- 

 ments* In addition, with the use of aircraft over arctic areas, 

 there is need for information about distribution of ice in the 

 sea, with reference to the feasibility of emergency landings on 

 ice as well as planning and executing various operations in the 

 areaso This report has been prepared at the request of the U.S. 

 Air Force and depicts ice conditions, by month, for the Baffin 

 Bay-Davis Strait area. 



Since the Hydrographic Office is charged with the respon- 

 sibility of developing and testing techniques for the observing 

 and forecasting of sea ice conditions, much of the developmental 

 work has been performed in conjunction with logistic operations. 

 Observations of ice in the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait area during 

 recent seasons have been reviewed critically for the preparation 

 of this report o 



The author was killed in a plane crash near Paget Point, 

 Ellesmere Island on 16 April 1954, while participating as an ice 

 observer aboard a U.S. Navy ice reconnaissance patrol plane,, 



M&cJi!<*&H~S' 



COCHRAN 

 ain, U. S» Navy 

 Hydrog raphe r 



iii 



