Ice Season Lengths Since 1994 



1 999 



1 998 



1997 



1 996 



1 995 



1 994 



33 3033 



H M erg ed Targets 

 B Length (days) 



31 7962 



3)9446 



50 100 150 200 250 



Days 



Figure 4. Ice season lengths since 1994, 



[Since IIP never opened the iceberg 

 season in 1999, there were no formal LAKI 

 broadcasts.] The different areas of 

 operation of the Canadian and IIP aerial 

 reconnaissance provides for excellent 

 complennentary coverage of the entire 

 Grand Banks region. This combined 

 system allows for better coverage than 

 either organization could achieve 

 separately. 



In 1999, the North Atlantic shipping 

 community continued its traditional high 

 level of support to Ice Patrol's operations. 

 They accounted for 34% of the reports and 

 6% of the targets received by IIP. The low 

 number of targets provided by shipping is a 

 clear indication of the mild 1999 ice year. 

 Vessels continued to provide many 

 "reports of no ice", which is extremely 

 valuable information to IIP. Ships also 



provide weather and sea surface 

 temperature observations when operating 

 in HP's area of responsibility. In all, 23 

 ships of 18 different nations provided ice 

 information to Ice Patrol. Appendix B lists 

 all the ships that provided iceberg sighting 

 reports, including reports of stationary 

 RADAR targets. Each year. Ice Patrol 

 presents an award to the vessel that 

 provides the greatest number of reports. In 

 1999, the award went to the M/W Berge 

 Nord, which sent 25 reports. The 

 continued high level of participation by the 

 entire shipping community indicates the 

 value they place on HP's service. 



The "Other" category, which 

 provided 2% of the targets detected in 

 1999, includes reports from less-frequent 

 or irregular ice reporting sources. For 

 example. Ice Patrol receives reports from 

 operators on lighthouses along the 

 Newfoundland coast (Table 1), from 

 commercial transatlantic airliners and from 

 the operators of various exploratory 

 petroleum platforms in the IIP operations 

 area. 



Finally, the National Ice Center 

 (NIC), which is a joint U. S. Navy, National 

 Oceanographic and Atmospheric 



