National / Naval Ice Center (NIC) Operations Brief This brief is UNCLASSIFIED Christopher Szorc, Senior Ice Analyst/Forecaster USCG USN NOAA
Outline NIC s mission is to provide timely, accurate and relevant METOC / ice products and services to meet the strategic, operational and tactical requirements of U.S. national interests across a global area of responsibility. National Ice Center (NIC) Operations Areas of Responsibility Products Sea Ice Prediction and Analysis System Customers Feedback
Inputs Satellites Operations Expert Ice Analyses, Forecasting, and Quality Control Products Hemispheric Ice Charts Aircraft Annotated Images Surface Obs Marginal Ice Zone Models Data Fusion Special Arctic Oceanographic Synopsis (SPAROS) Buoys 70-80 products per week Fractures, Leads and Polynyas (FLAP)
Personnel - 11 Military (AG s) - 10 US Navy (AG s) (3 Qualified) - 1 US Coast Guard - 5 DOD/NOAA civilans - 3 Perot System contractors - Work in harmony to ensure the highest quality product/ service is reached
Area of Responsibility - 20.6M sq.mi. Arctic, Great Lakes, Antarctic Russia North America / Canada Great Lakes Arctic (including Sea Of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, and Yellow Sea) Antarctica Chesapeake / Delaware Bays Antarctic
Products Weekly Analysis Annotated Images SPAROS FLAPS Antarctic Iceberg Database
Weekly Analysis - Weekly analysis of Arctic, Antarctic, and Great Lakes regions - Hosted on NIC web in.pdf format and also various GIS formats
Annotated Images -Tailored support produced on request for tactical and scientific support -Graphic format Produced during special evolutions
Special Arctic Oceanographic Synopsis -Daily Ice Edge 11 Jun 2007 -OTH-G message and graphic format -Produced for Arctic and Antarctic hemispheres Svalbard Novaya Zemlya -Disseminated via message traffic to SUBFOR Broadcast 100% Boundary Ice Edge Produced daily for U.S. SUBFOR and various DoD customers 9/24
Fracture, Leads and Polynyas - Typically classified at SECRET level -Produced in OTH-G message format -Disseminated via message traffic and SUBFOR broadcast Fracture Numerous Leads Various Directions Leads oriented Southeast to Northwest Produced daily during operations for US SUBFOR 10/24
Antarctic Iceberg Database - NIC is responsible for maintaining the database used throughout the world - Identify and track Icebergs larger than 10NM - Database of all named Icebergs dates back to 1976 Updated weekly World dissemination 11/24
Sea Ice Prediction and Analysis System (SIPAS) - Customized ESRI ARCMAP software tailored for Sea Ice Analysis - Enables analysis to be completed under one application suite - Full digital and graphical capabilities provide customers with the highest quality products 12/24
Near Future KML Format Currently Antarctic Icebergs available in KML to display on Google Earth, plans for Arctic, Antarctic & Great Lakes ice coverage in the works. Incorporate other Ice Services charts into NIC database, (Canadian region, Baltic Sea) why duplicate work done by other services with better knowledge, resources of local area.
POLARIS Polar Analysis Remote sensing Information System NAIS Common Production System. ARCMAP 9.3 based system NIC & CIS using same platform with tailored modules for each center. Allow for easy backup of each others products incase of emergency. Expected Dec 2010 14
Operations Customers Products Mission/Goal Supported Battlespace Awareness Hemispheric Ice Charts USN ONI SA / ISR / I&W Scientific Research Annotated Images Marginal Ice Zone WWW, Navy Message Traffic, Secure Network, INMARSAT, Iridium NSF MSC Maritime Shipping Commercial Fisheries Special Arctic Oceanographic Synopsis (SPAROS) Fractures, Leads and Polynyas (FLAP) Average of 880 products per month to over 140 customers NWS NOAA Local Gov. USCG Oceanographic and Atmospheric Models (NWP) Safety of Life and Property At Sea Safety of Navigation
Federal / State Agencies Federal Government Agencies International Organizations Research & Universities Operations Customers Over 140 known customers & agencies
Arctic Ocean and Surrounding area Siberia Northern Sea Route Arctic Ocean Greenland Northwest Passage North Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean North America (http://nasa.gov)
Questions? Questions?