AERIAL ICE RECONNAISSANCE 



Fifty-seven ice observation flights were made 

 by Lockheed Hercules (HC-130B) aircraft de- 

 ployed to Arg-entia, Newfoundland by the 

 United States Coast Guard Air Station, Eliza- 

 beth City, North Carolina during the ice season. 

 The primary objective of the aerial ice recon- 

 naissance was to guard the southeastern, south- 

 ern, and southwestern limits of ice in the gen- 

 eral area of the Grand Banks, and specifically 

 these limits in the areas of the Transatlantic 

 Steamship Tracks except for Track G (Strait 

 of Belle Isle). Frequent aerial ice reconnais- 

 sance permitted continuous surveillance of all 

 ice and permitted up-to-date information to be 

 disseminated to shipping. The ice reports re- 

 ceived from shipping were an invaluable addi- 



tion in attaining these objectives. 



Figures 2 through 19 illustrate flights con- 

 ducted by the Ice Patrol aircraft selected to 

 show the best ice information available on a 

 weekly basis. 



Radar aided the ice observers in locating ice 

 and when used in conjunction with the micro- 

 wave radiometer (model AN/AAR-33) in- 

 stalled on the aircraft enabled identifying the 

 radar targets as ships or icebergs. Excellent 

 correlation was attained with this device al- 

 though the one element of real uncertainty was 

 its inability to differentiate fishing vessels 

 (wooden) from icebergs. 



Flight statistics for the season are presented 

 in Table 2. 



Table 2. — Aerial Ice Reconnaissance Statistics — 1967 



Notes : 



(1) Days on which possible to search visually at least 50 percent of the search area with 25 mile spacing between legs of flight plan. 



(2) Ratio (X 100) of area actually searched visually to area planned to be searched. 



I 



