vessels and RADAR targets. When flying 

 reconnaissance in low visibility conditions it 

 is often difficult to determine whether a 

 target is an iceberg or a vessel. The 

 Grand Banks region is a major fishing 

 area, frequented by fishing vessels ranging 

 in size from 60 ft to over 200 ft. 

 Occasionally, Ice Patrol will detect and 

 confirm other types of targets such as 



Radar & Visual 



Figure 11. Breakdown of 1999 IIP reconnaissance targets 



marine life, fishing markers, etc. Since 

 1997, the Grand Banks region has rapidly 

 been developed for its oil reserves. In 

 November 1997, Hibernia, the gravity- 

 based oil production platform was set in 

 position approximately 150 nm offshore on 

 the northeastern portion of the Grand 

 Banks. Each year, there have been 

 several mobile drilling rigs in the nearby 

 White Rose and Terra Nova oil fields. This 

 increased development on the Grand 

 Banks has increased air and surface traffic 

 in HP's search area, further complicating 

 Ice Patrol's reconnaissance efforts. As 

 previously mentioned, the addition of FLAR 

 in 1993 provided IIP with a reliable method 

 of discriminating targets without actually 

 visually confirming the target. This method 

 works well for larger targets but is very 

 difficult with small vessels and small 

 icebergs. Both present similar RADAR 

 returns and, sometimes, cannot be 

 differentiated. In the cases in which there 



are no clear distinguishing features, the 

 target is simply classified as a RADAR 

 target. Of the 3293 icebergs detected, 

 45% were detected and identified with 

 RADAR only. This further emphasizes 

 the need for FLAR and the continuing 

 need to pursue technological innovations 

 in reconnaissance equipment. 



Oceanographic Operations 



During the 86-year history of IIP, 

 extensive oceanographic surveys were 

 conducted in the Grand Banks and 

 Greenland regions. Oceanographic 

 operations peaked in the 1960's when 

 the U. S. Coast Guard devoted 

 substantial vessel assets solely for 

 collecting oceanographic data. Two 

 factors combined to change the nature of 

 HP's oceanographic operations. First, 

 increased competition among the 

 various Coast Guard missions for 

 already scarce ship resources made it 

 increasingly difficult for IIP to obtain ship- 

 time. Second, there has been a vast 

 improvement in the capability and 

 reliability of oceanographic instruments 

 that can be deployed from aircraft and 

 volunteer ships. The instruments 

 telemeter data to aircraft or satellites, 

 and ultimately to Ice Patrol's operations 

 center for analysis. Oceanographic data 

 are collected using air-deployed satellite- 

 tracked drift buoys and Air-deployed 

 expendable BathyThermograph (AXBT) 

 probes. 



During 1999, Ice Patrol deployed 

 16 satellite-tracked drift buoys, nine from 

 its reconnaissance airplane, and seven 

 from volunteer ships. For drifter 

 information, request HP's 1999 Buoy 

 Atlas. In addition, Ice Patrol drifter data 

 are archived and available from the 

 National Oceanographic Data Center. 



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