Dataset used in the manuscript "Increased light availability in the northern Barents Sea driven by sea ice loss" submitted to JGR Oceans. All files contain PAR at 30m and 10m depth at various Barents Sea locations and times. The file "heimdallBarentsSea_1980s.nc", contains PAR data within the area 71-82˚N and 10-60˚E, for the years 1979-1988. The file "heimdallBarentsSea_2010s.nc" contains data for the same area but for the years 2013-2022. The file "heimdallBarentsSea_transect.nc", contains data along the 33˚E transect (71-82˚N) for the years 1979-2022.