From March 23-25, 

 IIP participated in the Labra- 

 dor Ice Margin Experiment 

 (LIMEX) '87. This interna- 

 tional experiment involved 

 four remote sensing aircraft 

 and a surface vessel. LIMEX 

 '87 was a pilot study for the 

 full experiment effort sched- 

 uled for 1989. The three 

 objectives of LIMEX '87 were 

 the verification of remote 

 sensing algorithms for active 

 and passive microwave sensors 

 with the aim of applying these 

 to future satellite-borne 

 sensors, the investigation of 

 oceanographic conditions in the 

 marginal ice zone, and the 

 determination of the charac- 

 teristics of the Labrador ice 

 pack in the region of maximum 

 southerly advance. The IIP 

 aircraft provided SLAR mosaics 

 of the pack ice and the ice edge 

 which were collected during the 

 course of regular reconnais- 

 sance patrols. 



Eleven satellite- 

 tracked oceanographic drifters 

 were deployed to provide 

 operational data for MP's 

 iceberg drift model. Six of 

 these drifters belonged to AES 

 and were deployed by IIP. AES 

 and IIP each had access to the 

 data these eleven drifters 

 provided. The drifters' data 

 are discussed in Appendix C. 



No U. S. Coast Guard 

 cutters were deployed to act as 

 surface patrol vessels this 

 year. Two cruises were per- 

 formed during the 1987 season 



10 



to conduct oceanographic re- 

 search for the Ice Patrol. The 

 first was conducted from U.S. 

 Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) 

 BITTERSWEET (WLB-389) 

 during the period April 27 

 through May 26. The primary 

 objective of this cruise was to 

 study water mass and frontal 

 boundary identification in 

 conjunction with the SLAR. The 

 second cruise was conducted 

 from USCGC TAMAROA (WMEC- 

 166) during the period June 

 8-27. The primary objectives 

 of this cruise were to compare 

 the environmental inputs to the 

 MP's iceberg drift and deterio- 

 ration model with observed 

 conditions, and evaluate any 

 errors in the model. The 

 results of these studies are 

 presented in Appendices D, E, 

 and F. 



These cruises were the 

 first deployments of MP's 

 transportable oceanographic 

 equipment, including a Mobile 

 Oceanographic Laboratory, 

 portable hydrographic winch, 

 and A-frame platform. This 

 transportable equipment allows 

 IIP to perform oceanographic 

 research from many types of 

 Coast Guard cutters. Alles and 

 Alfultis (1988) discuss the 

 assembly and operation of this 

 system in detail. 



