Satellite imagery for in-shore ice analysis in Greenland

DMI monitors and reports routinely on sea ice and iceberg conditions near shore and inshore in South Greenland for direct support and guidance of local shipping. The suite of local ships ranges from com-mercial, passenger and coast guard ships to small individual and sail boats. The occurrence of sea ice and icebergs is a hazard or obstacle to local shipping. It has been procedure for years to notify local shipping about difficult ice before they actually enter such areas so appropriate bridge decisions can made. The primary area of interest is within 59°45’N-62°00N and 42°50’W-48°30’W. The standard products based on the helicopter recce are the following: - Ice report in plain language - Photo series of ice conditions at selected or critical positions or annotated satellite imagery. Most often .jpg files with symbols and explanations of ice conditions. - Direct ice advisory to ships via HF radio Satellite data recorded in visual wavelength in resolutions of 15-20 m or better are very valuable for the inshore mapping program however fog, cloud cover and winter darkness is a significant limitation and imagery recorded with Synthetic Aperture Radar is a necessary complimentary datasource. Near real time delivery of data is critical for the inshore program however access to data within a couple of hours turned out to be acceptable.