RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, 1973 



During the 1973 Ice Season a final evaluation of the AN/DPD-2 

 Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) , provided by the U.S. Coast 

 Guard Research and Development Center, Groton, CT., was conducted. 

 SLAR appears to be the only all-weather iceberg detection device 

 available for the Ice Patrol, however a production model is 

 necessary in lieu of the research SLAR that was tested due to 

 operational considerations, i.e., repair parts readily available, 

 real-time film processing, etc. A valuable report entitled 

 "Iceberg Classification Using Side Looking Airborne Radar" by 

 L. D. FARMER was published last year from the 1970 and 1971 

 data gathered during ice reconnaissance flights. The information 

 contained therein remains unchanged to date and is available 

 from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, 

 VA. 22151 (Order Number AD 742653). Commander, International 

 Ice Patrol will continue efforts to obtain an operational Side- 

 Looking Airborne Radar to significantly improve iceberg 

 detection and identification capabilities. 



Also during the 1973 season a newly developed air-deployable 

 surface current probe was tested for its usefulness in determin- 

 ing iceberg drift. Due to various failures in the camera and 

 current probes, as well as the inability to relocate icebergs 

 and identify the dye patches, proper evaluation was not possible. 

 However, some valuable observations and recommended improvements 

 for future experiments were obtained. The Technical Report 

 (Project 736A11 of the Coast Guard Research and Development 

 Center) "Iceberg Drift from Surface Currents" by Dr. J. P. 

 WELSH, Jr. and Lieutenant S. M. PHILLIPS, USCG is included in 

 this Bulletin as Appendix B. 



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