Ocean Observing in Newfoundland &

Labrador- Some Practical

Applications

Ocean Observing in Newfoundland &

Labrador- Some Practical

ApplicationsMaritime Collaboration Summit

Nov 18, 2009 – San Diego

Government of CanadaNational Fisheries Aerial Surveillance ProgramGovernment of CanadaNational Fisheries Aerial Surveillance Program

• General:– Private sector maritime surveillance

program– Complete, turn-key service– Delivered by Provincial Aerospace Ltd.– 24/7/365 operations– 8,000 airborne maritime surveillance hours

per year– Many countries use private sector

companies to create or augment maritime domestic enforcement presence

• Major Mission Equipment:– Multimode military radar– Gyrostabilized forward looking infrared– Tactical data management system– Real time SATCOM/Swiftbroadband– Nighttime ship identification– 6-pairs of mark-II human eyeballs

• Missions:– Fisheries, pollution, illegal migration,

search & rescue, counter narcotics, sovereignty, support to military operations, etc.

Ice & Environmental MonitoringNorth Atlantic Oil Production and Exploration IndustryIce & Environmental MonitoringNorth Atlantic Oil Production and Exploration Industry

• Background:– Exploration and production activities

conducted in ice infested waters (pack ice and icebergs)

– Significant threat to safety at sea operations

• Provincial Aerospace Ltd. Provides:– Program comprises ice detection,

mapping, reporting and management– Fixed wing ice reconnaissance

services using special missions configured aircraft

– Missions executed on a daily basis during the ice season (March – June)

– Ice management includes tracking, drift prediction and where necessary towing/deflection

– Also includes site specific weather forecasting and observations, all tracked electronically

Polar View – Satellite–based Ice ObservationPolar View – Satellite–based Ice Observation

More than 80 partners from 16 countries

Program ManagerC-CORE

Euro- Russian Arctic Node

Manager: met.no

North American Node

Manager: C-CORE Baltic NodeManager: FMI

Antarctic NodeManager: BAS

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Canada

Denmark

Estonia

France

Finland

Germany

Iceland

Italy

Norway

Sweden

Russia

United Kingdom

USA

Funded mainly through ESA,Managed by C-CORE

WWW.POLARVIEW.ORGWWW.POLARVIEW.ORG

ServicesSafetyShippingOffshore operationsHunting and fishing

Water and EnvironmentWater resources managementFlood forecastingHydropower managementPollution transport

Adapting to Climate ChangeShippingOffshore operationsHunting and fishingWater resources managementFlood forecastingHydropower management

User ConcernsSea Ice and IcebergsHigh-resolution ice chartsMedium-resolution ice chartsSea ice thickness chartsIce forecastsFloe edge mapsIceberg detection reportsGlobal sea ice products

River and Lake IceIce classification mapsIce cover change mapsAnnotated imageryIce conditions historyFreeze-up/melt-onset timing

Glaciers and SnowGlacier facies maps Mass-balance modelling reportGlacier velocity mapsSnow cover mapsSnow water equivalent

Applied Ocean Observation supporting

‘Better Information….Better Decisions’

The SmartBay Vision The SmartBay Vision

“Simple access by all stakeholders to data and information in support of effective

management and sustainable development of coastal ocean areas and the safety and

security of life at sea.”

or simply put:

Better Information….Better Decisions

Why Placentia Bay?Why Placentia Bay?

• Economic importance– Year round activity– Fishery, oil and gas, transportation, tourism, new

heavy industry proposed and under development. – 2nd to Vancouver in value of goods shipped– Over 500 fishing enterprises

• Environmental sensitivity– Brander-Smith Report (1990), Transport Canada

(2008)– 30+ years without a major incident– 1200 tanker movements/yr. – 320 Mbbls

• Rapidly becoming the Province’s industrial heartland

– Location of choice for new heavy industry

Photo: Newfoundland LNG LimitedPhoto: Newfoundland LNG Limited

90 x125 kms

Fundamentals of SmartBay

Fundamentals of SmartBay

• Access to static and dynamic/real time data from a variety of sources

• Focus on applications of the technology• Outputs must be readily accessible and practical

– in other words useful to all potential end users • Applications from research to practical

Better Information….Better Decisions

Value Added ProductsValue Added Products

• General weather synopsis

• High Resolution forecasts for areas of interest

– SmartBay is the first commercial application of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) hi-res. forecast model in Canada

• Prediction of wind, waves, air, sea temperature, precipitation, icing potential

To come

• Current circulation model

• Spill trajectory modeling

Catalyst for Ocean Innovation Catalyst for Ocean Innovation

•Test-bed and demo. site for new technologies – buoys can accommodate additional instrumentation

•Data source for other commercial and R&D initiatives

•An operational ‘laboratory’ supporting innovation and training through applied R&D with industry, government and academia

www.SmartBay.ca