Iceberg Reconnaissance 

 and Communications 



During the 1986 Ice Patrol year 

 (from October 1 , 1985 through 

 September 30,1986), 63 aircraft 

 sorties were flown in support of 

 the International Ice Patrol. These 

 included pre-season flights, ice 

 observation and logistics flights 

 during the season, and post- 

 season flights. Pre-season flights 

 determined iceberg concentrations 

 north of 48°N to estimate the time 

 when icebergs would threaten the 

 North Atlantic shipping lanes in the 

 vicinity of the Grand Banks of 

 Newfoundland. During the active 

 season, ice observation flights 

 located the southwestern, south- 

 ern, and southeastern limits of 

 icebergs. Logistics flights were 

 necessary due to aircraft mainte- 

 nance problems. Post-season 

 flights were made to retrieve parts 

 and equipment from Gander and 

 to close out all business transac- 

 tions from the season. 



U.S. Coast Guard aircraft, de- 

 ployed from Coast Guard Air 

 Station Elizabeth City, North 

 Carolina, conducted all the aircraft 

 missions. SLAR-equipped HC- 

 130 aircraft were utilized exclu- 

 sively for aerial ice reconnais- 

 sance, and HC-130and HU-25A 

 aircraft were used on logistics 

 flights. Table 3 shows aircraft 

 utilization during the 1986 season. 



U.S. Coast Guard Communica- 

 tions Station Boston, [Massachu- 

 setts, NMF/NIK, was the primary 

 radio station used for the dissemi- 

 nation of the daily ice bulletins 

 and facsimile charts after prepara- 

 tion by the Ice Patrol office in 

 Groton. Other transmitting 



Table 3. Aircraft Use During the 

 1986 IIP Year (October 1, 1985 

 to September 30, 1986) 



stations for the OOOOZ and 1 200Z 

 ice bulletins included Canadian 

 Coast Guard Radio Station St. 

 John'sA/ON, Canadian Forces 

 Radio Station f^ill Cove/CFH, and 

 U.S. Navy LCf^P Broadcast 

 Stations Norfoik/NAfvl; Thurso, 

 Scotland; and Keflavik, Iceland. 

 Canadian Forces Station Mill 

 Cove/oFH as wellas Afvl Radio 

 Station Bracknell/GFE, United 

 Kingdom, are radiofacsimile 

 broadcasting stations which used 

 Ice Patrol limits in their broad- 

 casts. Canadian Coast Guard 

 Radio Station St. John's/ VON 

 provided special broadcasts. 



The International Ice Patrol 

 requested that all ships transiting 

 the area of the Grand Banks 

 report ice sightings, weather, and 

 sea surface temperatures via the 

 above communications/radio 

 stations. Response to this 

 request is shown in Table 4, and 

 Appendix A lists all contributors. 

 Commander, International Ice 

 Patrol extends a sincere thank 

 you to all stations and ships which 

 contributed. 



Table 4. Iceberg and SST Reports 



Number of ships furnishing Sea Surface Temperature (SST) reports 49 



Number of SST reports received 274 



Number ot ships furnishing ice reports 21 1 



Number of ice reports received 437 



First Ice Bulletin * ' 270000ZMAR86 



Last Ice Bulletin 031 200Z JUL 86 



Number of: facsimile charts transmitted 97 



