An important new sea-ice database is presently being created at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. The data are digitized from weekly charts prepared at the US Navy/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Joint Polar Ice Center and converted into a digital format prescribed by the World Meteorological Organization. The data cover both the Arctic and Antarctic for a ten-year period of record. The grid points are identified by earth coordinates and

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... have a resolution of 15 nm or better. This paper is intended to inform potential users of sea-ice data about the availability of the new data set. Topics covered are (1) data source, (2) brief description of the processing procedures, (3) the SIGRID output format, and (4) future plans.