Iceberg Reconnaissance & Oceanographic Operations 



Reconnaissance Operations 



The U. S. Coast Guard International 

 Ice Patrol (IIP) formally begins its seasonal 

 ice observation and Ice Patrol service 

 whenever icebergs threaten primary 

 shipping routes between Europe and North 

 America. This usually occurs in the month 

 of February and the threat usually extends 

 through July, but the Ice Patrol is flexible 

 and commences operations when iceberg 

 conditions dictate. The 1992 season, the 

 longest on record, ran from March 7th 

 through September 26th, 203 days. 

 Except during unusually heavy ice years, 

 the Grand Banks are normally iceberg free 

 from August through January. The 

 activities of the International Ice Patrol are 

 delineated by treaty and U.S. law to 

 encompass only those ice regions of the 

 North Atlantic Ocean that affect 

 transatlantic shipping routes. Fixed wing 

 Coast Guard aircraft conduct the primary 

 reconnaissance work for the Ice Patrol. Ice 

 reconnaissance flights are made on the 

 average of five days every other week 

 during the ice season. The mainstay of the 

 Ice Patrol flights for the past 20 years has 

 been the Hercules HC-130H aircraft. 



USCG HC-130H long-range 

 surveillance aircraft equipped with Side- 

 Looking Airborne RADAR (SLAR) and 

 Forward-Looking Airborne RADAR (FLAR) 

 systems are used to conduct iceberg 

 reconnaissance and monitor the location of 

 iceberg threats to the transatlantic mariner. 

 U. S. Coast Guard aircraft are the primary 

 means of detecting icebergs, which form 

 the limit of all known ice (LAKI). When 

 iceberg reconnaissance is not being 

 conducted, IIP relies on computer 

 modeling of the iceberg drift and 

 deterioration to determine iceberg position 

 and size updates. The computer model 



ingests ice reconnaissance data, 

 environmental data, and historical ocean 

 current data to predict iceberg drift and 

 deterioration. The LAKI is based on the 

 model output. 



The Ice Reconnaissance 



Detachment (IRD) is a sub-unit under 

 Commander, International Ice Patrol with 

 Commanding Officer, Air Station Elizabeth 

 City providing the aircraft platform. The 

 IRD is deployed to observe and report the 

 ice and oceanographic conditions in the 

 vicinity of the Grand Banks of 

 Newfoundland. Commander, International 

 Ice Patrol (CMP), disseminates this ice 

 information to shipping as per Title 46, 

 USC Section 738a and the Convention on 

 the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). 

 Oceanographic observations are used for 

 operational and research purposes at IIP. 



Environmental conditions are 

 favorable for visual reconnaissance in and 

 around the vicinity of the Grand Banks 

 approximately 20-30% of the time during 

 ice reconnaissance operations. Therefore, 

 Ice Patrol relies heavily on the combination 

 of Side-Looking Airborne RADAR and 

 Forward-Looking Airborne RADAR to 

 detect and identify icebergs through fog 

 and/or cloudy conditions. A more detailed 

 description of IIP reconnaissance 

 procedures is provided on Ice Patrol's web 

 page: 



Logistics 

 Transit Hours 



Hours 6% 



30% 



1998 Flight Hours 



Figure 8. 1998 Flight Hour Usage 



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