Summary of 

 Operations, 1985 



From 14 March to 29 August 

 1985, the International Ice Patrol 

 (IIP), a unit of the U.S. Coast 

 Guard, conducted the 

 International Ice Patrol Service, 

 which has been provided 

 annually since the sinking of the 

 RMSTITANIConAprillS, 1912. 

 During past years, Coast Guard 

 ships and/or aircraft have 

 patrolled the shipping lanes off 

 Newfoundland within the area 

 delineated by 4(fiN - 52PU. 390W - 

 57**W, detecting icebergs and 

 warning mariners of these 

 hazards. Duringthe 1985 Ice 

 Patrol season. Coast Guard HC- 

 130 aircraft flew 72 ice 

 reconnaissance sorties, bgging 

 over 507 flight hours. The 

 AN/APS-1 35 Side-Looking 

 Airt)ome Radar (SLAR), which 

 was introduced into Ice Patrol 

 duty during the 1983 season, 

 again proved to be an excellent all- 

 weather tool for the detection of 

 both icebergs and sea ice as 

 demonstrated during the 

 BergSearch *84 experiment 

 (Rossiter, efa/.,1984). On IIP 

 reconnaissance flights alone , the 

 SLAR provided 53 percent of the 

 1985 sightings. 



A deployment was made from 20- 

 25 February to determine the pre- 

 season iceberg distribution. 

 Based on this trip, regular 

 deployments started on 1 2 March 

 with the 1 985 season opening on 

 14 March. From that date until 29 

 August 1985, an aerial Iceberg 

 Reconnaissance Detachment 

 (ICERECDET) operated from 

 Gander, Newfoundland one week 

 out of every two. The season 



officially closed on 29 August 

 1985. 



During the 1 985 season, an 

 estimated 1 ,063 icebergs drifted 

 south of 48°N latitude. Table 1 

 shiows nronthly estimates of the 

 number of icebergs that crossed 

 48°N. 



No U. S. Coast Guard cutters 

 were deployed to act as surface 

 patrol vessels this year. The 

 USCGC EVERGREEN and 

 USCGC NORTHWIND were 

 deployed to conduct 

 oceanographic research for the 

 Ice Patrol during the periods 1 

 April - 1 May and 1 -9 August. 

 On board EVERGREEN, the IIP 

 iceberg drift and deterioration 

 models were evaluated (See 

 Appendices C and D), 



hydrographic equipment was 

 evaluated, and a joint IIP/USCG 

 Research and Development 

 Center study of surface craft and 

 iceberg target detection 

 performance by the AN/APS-1 35 

 SLAR was conducted (Robe, et 

 al., 1985). The NORTHWIND 

 hydrographic cmise was 

 cancelled because of main diesel 

 engine problems on board 

 NORTHWIND. 



Other research conducted at IIP 

 during 1985 included an analysis 

 of eddy formation in the vicinity of 

 the Grand Banks (Appendix E), 

 an evaluation of iceberg/ship 

 SLAR target discrimination 

 (Appendix B), and a comparison 

 of ocean fronts detected on 

 National Weather Service satellite 

 imagery and IIP SLAR imagery 

 (Appendix F). 



Table 1. Icebergs South of 48°North 



