The Army maintains stringent requirements for equipment in the Arctic operational environment due to concerns of risk to mission failure for sustaining the forces at temperatures down to -65^oF. However, the Arctic environment has wide variations across zones; the conditions diverge greatly between the coastal areas and interior locations because of latitude, circulation patterns, and elevation. The Army requirement of temperatures down to -65⁰F may only be encountered on rare occasions, and in certain subregions of the Arctic.

In addition to the temperature prerequisite, both the Army and the Air Force have rigid requirements for sustaining human habitation to withstand wind speeds of greater than 100 mph (125 mph at Thule AFB, Greenland) and support 25 lb/ft² snow load. These requirements also may only be encountered in certain regions.

As a result, DoD planners continue to struggle with these overarching questions:

• Are all Arctic material solutions required to operate at -65⁰F?
• Are there existing capabilities and solutions that can operate at -65⁰F?
• Are there existing capabilities that don’t meet the -65⁰F requirement that can be used anywhere else in the Arctic?
• Do some subregions of the Arctic never experience 100+MPH winds or 25lb/ft² snowload?

To answer the fundamental questions above, we proposed a refined characterization of Arctic zones relative to these design thresholds. The Arctic zonal characterization includes identifying the circumpolar north region breaks for environmental parameters to narrow the contingency, logistics and resources needed and develop site-focused requirements for the Services to operate across the region. Preparing this information and incorporating it into zonal thresholding allows us to identify the environmental parameters required to operate equipment, materiel, and force projection in the circumpolar region. This will provide mission critical data and information for operations managers to make better risk-informed decisions. Keeping operating requirements set for unrealistic or impractical environmental parameters can preclude applying resources and capabilities wisely. 

Both the Army Technical Manual (TM 4-33.31, Cold Weather Maintenance Operations) and the Army Regulation 70–38 (AR 70-38) outline categories according to the general principles and technical guidance on the effects and hazards in cold environment that impact the mission functions including planning, design, operation, and maintenance of equipment. TM 4-33.31 categorizes cold temperatures based on absolute minimum values into five groups (wet-cold, dry-cold, intense-cold, extreme-cold, and hazardous-cold), and mainly generalizes the effects of snow and ice conditions. The AR 70-38 delineates categories into four elements (basic cold, cold, severe cold, and extreme cold) and incorporates to some degree the design conditions based on limits of continuous time exposure with ambient air temperature, snow surface temperature, wind speed, and RH tending towards saturation. This is the current status of the identification of cold-region categories in the circumpolar north that is referenced by DoD.

The overall objective of this project is to identify and refine the zones in the circumpolar north to include three characteristics (air temperature extremes, snow depth and wind speed limits) against material and equipment exposure thresholds. Incorporating these characteristics with various operation exposure thresholds would provide realistic and practical environmental parameters to decisively apply the right resources and capability for Department of Defense operations. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2025)

Barrett, Evan P., Brendon Hoch, Zachary Zody, Michelle L. Michaels, and Rosa T. Affleck. 2025. *Development and Management of Arctic Zonal Characterization Products: Geospatial Database*. ERDC/CRREL SR-25-2. Hanover, NH: US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL).