Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division “SIKU” Sea Ice Mapping System The DMI Approach Henrik Steen Andersen Danish Meteorological Institute

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Requirements Production of digital ice charts based on satellite imagery and additional (meteorological) information Efficient development environment System must be user friendly, easy to maintain, long lifetime. Exchange of data System will also be used to R&D Integration of raster and vector GIS functionality, efficient and flexible data presentation. Software libraries, macro language, COTS. External support, documentation, large user base. Standard formats An efficient toolbox. DemandsSolution

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Workflow Data processing Product distribution Production of Ice analysis Data reception DMI Ground Stations and via Internet DMI Production software RADARSAT, NOAA and DMSP data DMI distribution system ERDAS, import, interpretation Arc/INFO, topology and QC ArcView, Graphical environment Presentation Production of Ice chart

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Data Input RADARSAT NOAA DMSP Ice ChartsMaps SIKU HIRLAM Ice drift model ENVISAT RADARSAT 2

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Data Input Observations Recognisance NOAA AVHRR RADARSAT DMSP SSM/I

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Current Status Hardware –SGI O2 Front end, two screens. –Connected to DMI operational production system OS –UNIX (front end and production) Software –DMI software, satellite data ingest and production –ERDAS Imagine, version 8.3 –Arc/INFO, version 8.1 –ArcView, version 3.3

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division ERDAS is used for.. Data presentation and digitization Visual interpretation Line and point symbols

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division ERDAS is used for.. Enter attributes in SIGRID format Topology check

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division ArcView is used for.. Ice Chart print Export Text and grid Ice Eggs Conversion from SIGRID to WMO codes An Ice Chart is based On an Ice Analysis

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division ArcView is used for.. RADARSAT Data Browser

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division ArcView is used for.. Presentation of Forecasts

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division The Products Regional - WeeklyNavigational Ice Charts

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division What’s New ? The current version of SIKU has been working operationally since 1999 The front end hardware is from 1998 Only minor changes have been made since

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Are the Ice Analysts Happy ? The ice analysts find SIKU satisfactory –The system is stable –The workflow is logical –Normally the system is not the limiting factor –We are getting the job done

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Are the Ice Analysts Happy ? On the other hand.. –Basic functionality should be improved Easier selection of lines and symbols A better way to enter area attributes Optimize the digitization process –Faster hardware would be nice –Add new information layers

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Maintenance and Development The struggle between new ideas and resources –The system is customizable –The knowledge is available –We have plenty of new ideas –BUT human and economic resources are limited

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Next Generation.. Ice chart Wind speed & direction Pressure Wave direction & height

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Next Generation.. Trends.. –ESRI software development strategy makes WINDOWS mandatory –ArcGIS may contain all necessary elements –ERDAS may only be used for R&D –Normally it is easier to buy software including support than to pay contractors

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Next Generation.. Advantages.. –ArcGIS provides very flexible customization tools –ArcGIS is scalable –Support and maintenance are simpler –Hardware is cheaper –It is a very interesting job to convert from Avenue to VBA –Other Ice Services use ESRI software

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division Next Generation.. Questions.. –Do ArcGIS provide the efficient image presentation environment that we need ? –Will it be possible for DMI to maintain and further develop the software ? –Can DMI benefit from the development in the other ice services ? –Is it possible to exchange / buy customized modules ?

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing Division The Way Forward.. DMI most upgrade HW / SW within 1-2 years. Major DMI development efforts must be financed by external sources. Customized (front end) modules based on COTS could be a very interesting alternative. DMI possess the necessary technical skills to maintain the software and implement interfaces