8000 feet. Consequently, a SLAR-dedicated 

 patrol sacrifices visual reliability, provided the 

 weather is good (a rarity over the Grand Banks). 

 The SLAR's optimal range for iceberg detection 

 is 27 miles either side of the aircraft, which is 

 better than the range on a visual search. Based 

 on these factors, a standard altitude of 8000 

 feet and search track spacing of 25 miles was 

 used for flight planning. The SLAR film has 

 latitude and longitude grids automatically 

 printed on it, enabling the operator to obtain 

 very accurate positions of objects. The all- 

 weather capability of the SLAR ensured that IIP 

 could fly more patrols during a given period of 

 time (barring any mechanical problems). In past 

 years, an Ice Reconnaissance Detachment 

 (ICERECDET) crew was kept in Newfoundland 

 at all times during the season. Half their time 

 was spent on the ground due to poor weather 

 conditions. During the 1983 season, CMP de- 

 cided that this was no longer necessary. 

 ICERECDET crews were deployed for one week 

 at a time, every two weeks. While they were 

 deployed, they flew every day, provided no air- 

 craft problems or severe weather conditions 

 (thunderstorms, blizzards, etc.) developed. 



Comparing the 1983 and 1982 seasons, even 

 though the 1983 ICERECDET crews spent about 

 half as much time in Newfoundland, the 

 number of reconnaissance patrols and flight 

 hours flown were nearly the same. During 1983, 

 73 reconnaissance patrols were flown for a 



total of 427.9 hours, while during 1982, 79 

 reconnaissance patrols were flown for a total 

 of 396 hours. This new one week patrol routine 

 freed the aircraft and crew for other missions 

 and cut costs without decreasing the number 

 of hours spent on patrol. This routine did call 

 for a "tight" schedule and optimum use of air- 

 craft time while it was deployed. There was lit- 

 tle leeway for down time if aircraft mechanical 

 problems were to develop and there was little 

 CMP could do to investigate unusual berg 

 sightings by ships if no aircraft were deployed. 

 Fortunately, these problems were rare. Several 

 times, the week-long patrols had to be extend- 

 ed (usually to 10 days) because of the large 

 number of bergs in the area. It was impossible 

 for the aircraft to adequately search the entire 

 area in a week's time. But, 1983 was an 

 unusually heavy year for berg activity and it re- 

 mains to be seen if this same problem would 

 develop during a season of "average" berg ac- 

 tivity. 



Overall, the addition of the AN/APS-135 SLAR 

 was a welcome aid to Ice Patrol searches. It 

 reduced dependency on good weather for flying 

 patrols and allowed flight crews to return and 

 perform post-flight analysis on the SLAR film. 



Once sufficient ground truthing of the SLAR 

 is conducted and correlations are drawn be- 

 tween SLAR film contact sizes and the actual 

 sizes of objects, the information IIP obtains 

 from the SLAR will be more reliable. 



