offshore in international waters near the 

 1000-rm depth contour (Figure 1). As a 

 result of this emphasis, IIP detects 

 approximately 50% of the icebergs that 

 define LAKI (Figure 4). 



1998 Limit Setting Icebergs 



of 1 52 Total Icebergs 

 Other 



3% 



Figure 4. Sources of Limit Setting Icebergs 



The differences in the area covered 

 and the operations among the Canadian 

 and IIP flights results in a complementary 

 reconnaissance system which achieves 

 excellent aerial coverage over the entire 

 Grand Banks area. This combined system 

 allows for better coverage than either 

 organization could achieve separately and 

 prevents duplication of effort. Information 

 is shared freely among all organizations. 



Although ships of opportunity 

 account for 7% of the total number of 

 targets entered into BAPS, they find 24% 

 of the icebergs that define LAKI. In 1998, 

 the National Ice Center (NIC) detected 

 10% of the icebergs that defined the 

 iceberg limits. 



The "Other" category, which 

 accounted for 3% of the icebergs that 

 defined LAKI, contains reports from less- 

 frequent or less-regular ice reporting 

 sources. IIP receives several ice reports 

 per year from operators of lighthouses 

 along the Newfoundland coast, from 

 commercial transatlantic airlines and from 



service providers for the Jeanne d'Arc Oil 

 and Gas consortium, which operates 

 several offshore petroleum platforms in the 

 IIP operations area. Finally, the BAPS 

 category contains targets that are originally 

 detected north of the demarcation between 

 IIP and CIS operations areas (52°N 

 latitude) and that drift south across the line 

 with the Labrador Current. 



To compare with previous years' ice 

 seasons, 1998 was approximately average 

 in terms of season length and was the 

 second lowest in terms of merged targets 

 (Figure 5). In previous years, IIP has used 



Ice Season Lengths Since 1993 



100 125 150 175 200 225 250 

 Days 



Figure 5. Ice Season Lengths Since 1993. 



the number of icebergs south of 48°N as a 

 metric for ice-season severity (Figures 6 

 and 7). This metric includes both icebergs 

 detected south of 48°N and those that are 

 predicted to drift south of 48°N. The 

 icebergs south of 48°N measurement is 

 generally preferred by IIP because it 

 places the emphasis on icebergs that 

 represent a significant hazard to 

 transatlantic shipping. In addition, IIP may 

 not necessarily merge all reported targets 

 into its database: sightings of targets 

 outside MP's area of responsibility and 

 coastal icebergs are usually not merged as 

 they represent little threat to transatlantic 

 shipping. Thus, total merged targets is not 



