National Ice Center analysis

Ice Management

Monitoring of Dangerous Ice. When operations involve an anchored vessel in ice-infested waters, a process should be in place that provides continuous monitoring of dangerous ice encroaching into the safety envelop of the vessel.

Ice Observers. Fairweather can provide experienced ice observers that continuously monitor and plot ice movement in the vicinity of the vessel using ships radar, observations from support vessels and helicopter over-flights. When dangerous ice is detected and forecast to enter the safety envelop of the vessel, the Master of the vessel is notified and icebreakers attempt to move or breakup the ice floe.  The screen shot of the Fairweather tracking software is shown below.  Alert level range marks are shown as different colors.  The software can automatically monitor the radar and plot ice motion over a specified period.

A combination of software and hardware can automatically monitor the radar and plot ice motion over a specified period as shown below.

Radar

Ice Drift Forecasts. Fairweather has developed advanced algorithms for forecasting the motion of ice floes in the vicinity of anchored vessels.  These 48 hour forecasts take into consideration different floe types, ocean currents, and forecasted wind.  The screen shot of the forecast software is shown below.