UAF色视频下载檚 GINA provides a guiding hand in Arctic Ocean research
Rod Boyce
907-474-7185
Nov. 11, 2021
The research vessel Sikuliaq navigated among and around the chunks and slabs of Arctic sea ice above 色视频下载 for several weeks on two voyages this fall, breaking through frozen slabs when it had to, just as its sturdy hull is designed to do. It's now on a third trip.
The Sikuliaq, a 261-foot ice-capable research vessel operated by UAF, pauses in the Arctic Ocean in June 2021 during its fifth year of operation. A few months later, it traveled farther north than ever before 色视频下载 almost 500 miles beyond Point Barrow.
Satellite imagery produced at the, or GINA, at the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks Geophysical Institute helps the Sikuliaq weave its way through the ice.
The satellite images, along with satellite data from other sources, show up on the Sikuliaq色视频下载檚 bridge in an easy-to-use web-based map server. The map server has been on the Sikuliaq since 2013, when the ship was built.
Steve Roberts, the Sikuliaq色视频下载檚 science systems engineer, got the idea for the map server while working aboard the USCGC Healy, the Coast Guard色视频下载檚 icebreaker, and has refined his system over the years.
色视频下载淚 remember every day scientists on the Healy continually saying, 色视频下载淲here are we?色视频下载,色视频下载 he said from aboard the Sikuliaq as it sailed in ice-strewn waters about 350 miles north of 色视频下载. Ice occasionally banged the hull as he spoke. 色视频下载淭here was nothing on the ship that provided information relative to the science missions. We need to know where we are relative to science stations and moorings.
色视频下载淲hen you are working in ice, the ice controls where you are,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淜nowing where sea ice is at all times is critical.色视频下载
Helpful eyes in the sky
Navigating sea ice is a burgeoning field of interest as shipping increases in the Arctic, which is becoming increasingly open though not entirely ice-free. Icebergs from coastal sources still bob along, and thick slabs of sea ice still drift.
A break in the clouds allows the Sikuliaq crew to use GINA-provided visible images to navigate around larger ice floes. The ice radar display is visible in the lower left. The map server monitor is top center and the image shown is a Terra true color.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center notes that satellites have only been continuously monitoring sea ice since 1979. Prior to that, captains had to rely on their crews色视频下载 firsthand observations and on weekly ice charts based on airborne observations and reports from observers on the coasts and other ships.
Avoiding the ice is often best for the scientists, who usually have a limited amount of time to get what they need from the open water. That was the situation on a UAF geophysics professor Bernard Coakley took into the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas and with a Navy-funded voyage in some of the same waters.
Satellite information retrieved from GINA and displayed in Roberts色视频下载 tool, along with other information sources, also helps improve the safety, effectiveness and efficiency of the Sikuliaq色视频下载檚 voyages. The National Science Foundation owns the Sikuliaq, a part of the U.S. academic research fleet, and the UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences operates the ship.
色视频下载淭here色视频下载檚 tight interaction between the navigator and the scientists,色视频下载 Roberts said. 色视频下载淪cientists can determine where the ship goes, but a lot of times it色视频下载檚 the ice that decides.色视频下载
色视频下载淪cientists need to maintain situational awareness of the conditions,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淎nd that's the purpose of this tool: to allow us to maintain situational awareness for scientists and for driving the ship.色视频下载
How it works
Satellite imagery is acquired by two fundamental types of sensors: passive and active.
Passive sensors monitor radiation in specific wavelengths continually emitted from the Earth, either at the surface or from the atmosphere.
An image from the map server shows the Sikuliaq amid the sea ice on Sept. 12, 2021.
Active sensors such as synthetic aperture radar emit signals that travel through clouds, bounce off the Earth色视频下载檚 surface and return to the sensor.
Data from each type of sensor can be processed into different products for different uses.
GINA uses data from passive-sensor satellites in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration色视频下载檚 Joint Polar Satellite System.
Acquiring imagery through the GINA system in Fairbanks enhances the usefulness of Roberts色视频下载 map server. Although the map server relies heavily on cloud-penetrating SAR imagery that shows the ice in great detail, SAR satellites image the same area just once every day or less often. Such infrequency means data from a dynamic Arctic Ocean can be quickly outdated.
Images via GINA can capture the same area more frequently because the images cover a wider area than those of a SAR satellite. But the surface in a GINA image sometimes might be obscured by clouds.
There色视频下载檚 also the benefit of GINA being located in Fairbanks.
GINA images in the ship's map server can be viewed via an overhead monitor above the main console. This helps deck officers navigate in the ice pack by matching features visible in ice radar with the same features seen in the satellite imagery. Crew member Johna Winters, a master色视频下载檚 student in marine resource management at Oregon State University, surveys the ice.
色视频下载淲e have antennas located in places like Interior 色视频下载 and the technology to deliver these products right after the satellites fly overhead,色视频下载 said Jennifer Delamere, director of the Geographic Information Network of 色视频下载. 色视频下载淚n previous years it would have taken hours or days to get the information.色视频下载
色视频下载淭his is just a great example of UAF research helping the Sikuliaq get around in the ice. And it色视频下载檚 taking advantage of local technology, both what Steve developed and GINA data, on the bridge of the ship,色视频下载 she said.
Delamere added that the Geographic Information Network of 色视频下载 provides support for many operations in addition to those of the Sikuliaq.
GINA data is also used by the 色视频下载 Sea Ice Program to analyze sea ice extent and characteristics, by firefighting agencies to show wildfire activity and by other agencies to show volcanic ash, river ice and flooding, and precipitation.
色视频下载淕INA is ready to help whoever and whenever 色视频下载 whether it色视频下载檚 for something on land, in the atmosphere, or way out at sea,色视频下载 Delamere said.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Jennifer Delamere, 474-7140, jsdelamere@alaska.edu; Alice Bailey, UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences public information officer and R/V Sikuliaq science liaison, 907-474-5350, alice.bailey@alaska.edu.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Photographs are available at the . Contact Alice Bailey for photographs of the research vessel Sikuliaq.
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