TeraScan operations onboard US Coast Guard Icebreakers

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TeraScan operations onboard US Coast Guard
Icebreakers

• Polar class icebreakers using Polar orbiting
  satellites

A presentation for the 11th Annual TeraScan
conferenceby Sean McPhilamy, Chief Petty
Officer, US Coast Guard
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Just back from Deep Freeze 2002

• POLAR SEA and POLAR STAR have 1.2 meter dish
  systems which receive both NOAA and DMSP polar
  orbiting satellites, along with reception of
  geostationary wefax information.

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Photo by embarked Aviation Detachment
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The 1.2 meter dish
Our antennas mount juststarboard of centerline,
on the flying bridge. This offers fairly good
passreception, with the exceptionof some mast
blockage bythe aloft conning tower, andforward
stack.
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Primary uses while underway

• Ship navigation assistance, through using the
  system as an assist to weather charts and
  forecast info.
• Sea ice navigation in Polar regions including
  visible, infrared and the DMSPs special
  sensor microwave/imager (ssm/i) data.

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Often there is tremendous interest inhow weather
may affect the ship
Photo from Seattle PI website
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Additionally, data collection

• Consistent data collection through large open
  water regions and areas where few reception
  stations exist.
• Data is collected, catalogued, and archived to
  4mm tapes for transfer to the Arctic and
  Antarctic Research Center (AARC).

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Site specific uses include

• Worldwide, NOAA satellites allow DCS collection
  and info access.
• This allows simple deployment confirmation and
  initial tracking of deployed drogue/drift buoys
  and PALACE floats.
• (more)

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NOAAs deployed buoys allow tracking of measured
data through large areas over time.
Photo from Seattle PI website
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Tracking of released NOAA drfter buoysduring
transit from eastern Ross Sea to the southern
tip of Chile.
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PALACE floats Profiling Autonomous Lagrangian
Circulation Explorer Submersible CTDs which
transmitto NOAA polar orbitersduring average
of 6 hours surfacetime daily.
Photo from SeaBird website
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Site specific uses also include

• Antarctic Automated Weather Stations (AWS)
• Using DCS processes, including McMegu (the
  McMurdo Station engineering units standard) and
  weather as an overlay, we obtain a fairly quick
  picture of the local area of the Antarctic
  continent.

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Antarctic Automated Weather Station (AWS) The
easy example
Photo from British Antarctic Survey website
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Antarctic Automated Weather Station (AWS) The
harder example
Photo from Seattle PI website
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Allows theweather datacollected tobe
graphicallypresented forthe area of interest,
inthis case the ice runwaysfor
McMurdoStation
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Near Future capabilities include

• Polar area collection of using SeaWIFs this
  usage helps out with on-site collection of
  this information, an example is the Southern
  Ocean Iron Experiment (SOFeX) which POLAR STAR
  just assisted in. Plankton blooms were tracked
  by SeaWIFs.

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TeraScan operations continue

• POLAR STAR and POLAR SEA continue to collect data
  with onboard TeraScan systems for trips near both
  poles.
• This data collection is used near real time
  onboard, and archived for use as identified by
  science need.
• These operations will continue to augment HEALYs
  work, especially with planned summer trips into
  the Arctic.