Table 1. Source of International Ice Patrol Iceberg Reports by Size. 



Table 1 shows the total 

 iceberg sightings reported to IIP in 

 1988 (including resights) which 

 were in MP's operations area and 

 away from the Newfoundland 

 coast, broken down by the sighting 

 source and iceberg size. IIP 

 ICERECDET, AES, and commer- 

 cial shipping continue to be the 

 three major sources of iceberg 

 sighting reports. Appendix A lists 

 all iceberg sightings received from 

 commercial shipping, regardless 

 of the sighting location. 



Table 2 lists monthly 

 estimates of the total number of 

 icebergs that crossed 48°N for the 

 pre-lntemational Ice Patrol era, 

 and for the ship, aircraft visual, 

 and aircraft SLAR reconnaissance 

 eras. Table 3 compares the 

 estimated number of icebergs 

 crossing 48°N for each month of 

 1988 with the monthly mean 

 number of icebergs crossing 48°N 

 for each of the four different eras. 



During the 1988 ice year, 

 an estimated 187 icebergs drifted 

 south of 48°N latitude, compared 

 to 318 icebergs drifting south of 

 48°N during 1987. The average 

 number of icebergs drifting south 

 of 48°N from 1900 to 1987 is 403 

 (Alfultis, 1987). With 187 icebergs 

 drifting south of 48°N, 1988 was 

 less than the average. The 

 number of icebergs crossing 48°N 

 during 1988 was less than the 

 SLAR reconnaissance era aver- 

 age. It is important to note, 

 however, that this SLAR era 

 average is based on only five 

 years of data. 



IIP defines those ice years 

 with less than 300 icebergs 

 crossing 48°N as light or low ice 

 years; those ice years with 300 to 

 600 icebergs crossing 48°N as 

 average or intermediate; those ice 

 years with 600 to 900 icebergs 

 crossing 48°N as heavy or severe; 

 and those ice years with more 



than 900 icebergs crossing 48°N 

 as extreme. With 187 icebergs 

 drifting south of 48°N, 1988 was 

 deemed a light year. 



On April 15, 1988, IIP 

 paused to remember the 76*' 

 anniversary of the sinking of the 

 RMS TITANIC. During an ice 

 reconnaissance patrol, two 

 memorial wreaths were placed 

 near the site of the sinking to 

 commemorate the nearly 1500 

 lives lost. 



Six satellite-tracked ocean 

 drifting buoys were deployed to 

 provide operational data for HP's 

 iceberg drift model. These buoys 

 were the same standard-size 

 drifting buoys IIP has been 

 deploying for thirteen years. Four 

 of these buoys were later recov- 

 ered by USCGC NORTHWIND for 

 re-use. The drift data from these 

 buoys are discussed in Appendix 

 B. 



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