2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 



■ Patrol Hours 

 il Research Hours 



■ Transit Hours 

 I Logistics Hours 



Figure 10. Breakdown of flight hours (2000-2004). 



expends a fairly consistent number of flight 

 hours even though the number of icebergs 

 varies significantly from year to year. Ice Patrol 

 maintains this consistency because even a small 

 number of icebergs passing south of 48°N can 

 dramatically extend the geographic distribution 

 of the LAKl, thus requiring coverage of a large 

 area of ocean despite a sparse iceberg 

 population. 



Coast Guard aircraft provided the 

 primary means of detecting the icebergs that set 

 the Limit of All Known Ice. To conduct 

 iceberg reconnaissance, IIP used a Coast Guard 

 HC- 1 30H long-range aircraft equipped with the 

 Motorola AN/APS-135 Side-Looking Airborne 

 Radar and the Texas Instruments AN/APS-137 

 Forward-Looking Airborne Radar. Ice Patrol 

 began using SLAR in 1983, FLAR in 1993, and 

 incorporated the Maritime Surveillance System 

 5000 with SLAR in 2000. 



Environmental conditions on the Grand 

 Banks permitted adequate visibility (>10 NM) 

 only 36% of the time during iceberg 

 reconnaissance. Consequently, Ice Patrol relied 

 heavily on its two airborne radar systems to 

 detect and identify icebergs in cloud cover and 

 fog. The combination of SLAR and FLAR 

 enabled detection and identification of icebergs 

 in pervasive low-visibility conditions, 

 minimizing the flight hours necessary to 

 accurately determine the LAKI. This radar 

 combination allowed IIP to use 30 NM track 



CM n «* 



o o o 



o o o 



eg CM CM 



r 



I Hours 



■Icebergs 



Figure 11. Flight hours versus icebergs south of 48°N 

 (1995-2004). 



spacing and provide 200% radar coverage of 

 approximately 40,000 NM" of ocean each 

 patrol despite poor visibility (Figure 12). A 

 detailed description of HP's reconnaissance 

 strategy is provided at http://www.uscg.mil/ 

 lantarea/iip/FAQ/ReconnOp_10.shtml. 



Identifying the various types of targets 

 on the Grand Banks is a continual challenge for 

 IIP reconnaissance. Frequently, visibility is 

 poor and targets are often identified based 

 solely on their radar image. Both SLAR and 

 FLAR provide valuable clues to target identity, 

 but in most cases FLAR's superior imaging 

 allows definitive target identification. Figure 

 13 displays the number and types of targets that 



I 



FLAR & SLAR Radar Coverage 



■»^ 



y^^^.jSt John's, Newfoundland 



FLAR 



^n;^>^, 



— SLAR 



lA 



h 





30 NM track spacing provides 200% radar 

 coverage of search area 



L /^ iO 30NM 



(Track Spacing 



Figure 12. Radar reconnaissance plan. 



10 



