RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, 1976 



During 1976, the IIP research and development 

 effort was centered on the collection of iceberg 

 drift date, gathering of current information near 

 the Tail of the Banks, and further development 

 of remote sensing equipment. 



The iceberg drift data endeavor was designed 

 to provide the velocities of the iceberg, current 

 and wind. Current velocity was obtained by 

 using a newly designed integrating current 

 drogue. The drogue made use of multiple win- 

 dow shade drogue panels to measure the total 

 current affecting the iceberg. The surface float/ 

 marker used a newly acquired X-Band radar 

 transponder which marked the radar screen with 

 a unique symbol for easy identification. Detailed 

 drifts were obtained for time periods up to 60 

 hours. 



An unsuccessful attempt was made to measure 

 the current field east of the Tail of the Banks. 

 Three moorings at the corners of an equilateral 

 triangle were to provide information on eddies, 

 meanders and rings of the Labrador/North At- 

 lantic Current system. The moorings were de- 

 ployed without difficulty, but were not recovered 

 due to an unknown equipment malfunction. 



A photographic survey of Grand Banks ice- 

 bergs was conducted with an aerial mapping 

 camera. One result of this survey was a series of 

 fine photographs of the same tabular iceberg over 

 a time period of 24 days (See Appendix B). The 

 deterioration processes acting on the iceberg were 

 clearly evident. 



Remote sensing test and evaluation was con- 

 ducted with the continuation of a cooperative 

 NASA Lewis Research Center-International Ic« 

 Patrol program to develop an all-weather iceberg 

 detection and identification system. Side-Looking 

 Airborne Radar (SLAR/APS-94C) was the 

 primary instrument used and was found to be an 

 extremely reliable detection device. The problem 

 remains with identification of the detected targets 

 (i.e., ship vs. iceberg, surface debris vs. iceberg, 

 sea ice vs. iceberg). Attempts were made to use 

 ECM (Electronic Counter Measure) equipment. 

 It was hoped that the ECM would be able to 

 detect shipboard radar transmissions and thus 

 identify certain targets as ships. Problems in 

 accurately determining the direction from which 

 signals originated and the realization that a num- 

 ber of ships, particularly fishing vessels, often 

 operated without radar, proved to make this sys- 

 tem unreliable. SLAR remains the device pro- 

 viding the most potential for solving Ice Patrol's 

 problems of tracking icebergs in the adverse 

 weather conditions so prevalent in the vicinity of 

 the Grand Banks. 



Over-the-Horizon Radar (OHR) was evaluated 

 for iceberg detection using the MADRE system 

 of the Chesapeake Xaval Research Laboratory. 

 It was determined that the present state-of-the- 

 art does not provide sufficient resolution to meet 

 the need of the Ice Patrol. 



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