Operational Ice Monitoring Requirements

Mike Manore

Canadian Ice ServiceMeteorological Service of Canada

EnvironmentCanada

EnvironnementCanada

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Outline

• Operational Ice Services• Information Requirements• Characteristics of Operational Data• Operational Trends• Gaps/Future Requirements

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Operational Ice Services - 5 Ws• Who?

– primarily national meteorological agencies and/or military– sometimes research labs, maritime safety agencies

• What?– 0.25 90 people– $10k $15M

• Where?– ≈ 20-25 regionally-based services – focus on national waters

• exception – US National Ice Center – global ice charting mission– primary interest is marginal ice zone

• When? – primarily to support navigation – seasonal temporal coverage– products - daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, seasonal

• Why?– publicly funded for public good objectives

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Operational Ice Services – Why?• Ice information to support:

– marine safety• avoid ice hazards• navigate safely in ice when required

– marine commerce• permit shipping where otherwise not feasible

– support year-round operations, regional economic development

• efficiency of ship routing, icebreaker deployments

– environmental protection• reduce risk of oil spills from ship damage

– numerical weather prediction

– environmental knowledge• support for regulation and policy development

– science, sovereignty, tourism, adventurers, ….

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Operational Ice ServicesExample - CIS Mission

• Area of interest -wherever there is icein Canadian waters;• biased to shipping

activity in MIZ

• Tactical and strategic ice information

• focus on:• ice extent• concentration• type• hazardous pressure

situations

Canadian Ice Service

Areas of Coverage(Seasonal)

Major Shipping Routes

Resolute

Thule

Inuvik

Iqaluit

Goose Bay

Toronto

Ottawa

July - October

June - November

July - October

December - - May

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Data to Ice Information Products

Image ProductsAnalysed images

Chart ProductsDaily tactical ice analysesWeekly strategic ice analyses

Climatological ProductsIce AtlasesNormals / Extremes

Text ProductsIce hazard warnings30-day forecastsSeasonal Outlooks

FICN11 CWIS 181450ICEBERG BULLETIN FOR EAST COAST WATERS AND THE STRAIT OF BELLE ISLEAND ITS APPROACHES ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA FROM CANADIAN ICESERVICE IN OTTAWA AT 1500 UTC WEDNESDAY 18 OCTOBER 2000.

SatelliteOpticalNOAA AVHRRDMSP OLS

MicrowaveRADARSATENVISATQUIKSCATDMSP SSM/I

AirborneVisual ObsSLAR/SAR

SurfaceBuoysShip ReportsShore Obs

ModelsMarine weatherIce

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

CIS Ice Charts

Daily and weekly

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Ice Information Services:Socio-Economic Benefits andEarth Observation Requirements

Prepared for:The Group on Earth Observation (GEO)andGlobal Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)Prepared by:The International Ice Charting Working Group

With funding from:The European Space Agency, GSE Contract 17062, “The Northern View”September 2004

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Information Requirements for Key Ice Features(adapted from CEOS, WMO, WCRP, ESA-GMES)

Parameters Marine Operations Weather Forecasting

Regional NWP

Climate Monitoringand Science

Ice Extent – relative edge location Ice Edge Location - absolute

-

± 50m-100m (750m)

5km (50km)

-

15km (50km)

-

Ice Concentration AccuracyIce Concentration Range

±10% (±20%)

5% - 100%

5% (50%)

5% - 100%

5% (50%)

5% - 100%

Ice Stage of Development -probability of correct ice typing

Ice Stage of Development

Ice Thickness

90% (70%)

Distinguish new, young, first-year and

multi-year ice

10cm (20cm-50cm)

-

-

50cm (100cm)

-

-

50cm (100cm)

Fast Ice Boundary

Forms of Floating Ice - floe diameter

Same as for ice edge

10m (50m-100m)

Same as for ice edge

-

Same as for ice edge

-

Leads/Polynas 25m width (250m) - 1% of ice area (10%)

Optimum Future Value (Current Threshold Value)

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Information Requirements for Key Ice Features (cont’d)

Parameters Marine Operations Weather Forecasting

Regional NWP

Climate Monitoringand Science

State of Decay - % area of melt ponds

10% (50%) 10% (-) 5% (25%)

Sea Ice Topography - ridge height

1m (2m) 2m (-) -

Ice Motion AccuracyIce Motion Range

± 1km/day0-50 km/day

- ± 1km/day0-50 km/day

Icebergs – max. waterline dimension

25m (-) - -

Timeliness < 1 hr (3-6 hr) < 1 hr (3-6 hr) -

Sampling Frequency 24 hr (48 hr) 1 day (7 days) 3 days (7-30 days)

Geographic Coverage North of 30o north and

south of 45 o south

North of 30o north and

south of 45 o south

North of 30o north and

south of 45 o south

Optimum Future Value (Current Threshold Value)

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Characteristics of Operational Data• near-real-time

– <1h – 6h delivery to analysis site; <2h – 6h delivery to ships

• frequent, reliable revisit periods– wide swath or multiple sensors– all weather capability desirable

• diversity of observations– microwave, optical, thermal

• high resolution is desirable- ice typing requires fracture, floe shape information- many navigation hazards are < 50m in size, narrow channels

• data continuity– operational satellite series (10-15+ years)– multiple satellites, operational redundancy– investment in infrastructure

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Operational Trends

• increasing volume and complexity of data – multi-satellites, multi-channel data not manageable by human analysts

• higher-resolution, coupled NWP and ice models– demand for systematic ice observations suitable for assimilation – requires validated, calibrated instruments and retrievals

• convergence of sensors suitable for science and operations - NPOESS

increasing convergence of operational and science observational requirements

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Operational Trends

• increasing international cooperation– data access and sharing

– standards

• nomenclature, analysis practices

• data exchange and interoperability

• value of operational data streams and archive– imagery and analyses– increased convergence and exploitation welcomed

Canadian Ice Service IGOS Cryosphere Workshop

Gaps/Future Requirements• high-resolution - revisit and continuity

– SAR follow-missions– multiple satellites for revisit and operational redundancy– high-resolution, multi-pol for iceberg detection and classification

• routine data fusion/data integration products– e.g. microwave + optical/thermal, scatterometer + radiometer– resolution, temporal, and coverage differences between data types

need to be handled

• quantitative retrievals for model assimilation– validated algorithms + error characteristics

• ice thickness– at operational scales and timeframes