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To investigate the ice resistance of an icebreaker under the influence of snow cover, two series of tests, i.e. normal level ice and snow covered level ice, were performed with different navigating speeds in the Ice Engineering Laboratory of Tianjin University. The model ship was mounted on a rigid carriage through a one-directional load cell to measure the total ice resistance. A tactile sensor covering the area from stem to bow shoulder on one side of the model vessel was used in measuring the spatial distribution and temporal variation of the ice pressure on the bow area. Different ice cusp patterns and ice channel shapes were observed in different test series. The measurements indicate that the presence of snow cover increases the ice resistance both in the breaking and submersion components. The measured results are also compared with the calculated results through Lindqvist method, and some improvements and important discussions are made in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]