1. National Ice Center Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Usage
Ms. Sharolyn Young
NOAA/ NESDIS/ NIC
August 15, 2007

2. The Nation’s Single Inter-agency for
NATIONAL ICE CENTER
The Nation’s Single Inter-agency for
Operational Ice Analysis and Forecasting
Navy-NOAA-USCG MOA Annex II (NAVICE-NESDIS-USCG)
Formation of National Ice Center 1995
Annex II Update Signed 21July 2005

3. Vision: Mission: NATIONAL ICE CENTER
Center of excellence in global ice meteorology and oceanographic services.
Mission:
To provide the highest quality strategic and tactical ice services tailored to meet the operational requirements of U.S. national interests. To provide specialized meteorological and oceanographic services to U.S. government agencies.

4. Access to Commercial SAR Data
• At present, the following SAR mission can potentially supply the demand of data currently used to fulfill US government requirements.
- All SAR data provided to the US from international missions:
Canadian RADARSAT-1
European Space Agency’s Envisat ASAR
Japanese ALOS PALSAR
• SAR is the only sensor with required combination of:
Aerial Coverage (global)
High Resolution
Cloud Discerning (Arctic & cold regions are cloud covered % of typical winter season)
• NOAA/NIC MAJOR CONCERN & PRIORITY:
Insuring continued affordable access to SAR data.
For almost 3 decades, Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) data has been the NIC’s principal sources of polar-orbiting satellite data to achieve its mission.
During recent years, however, the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) all weather, day/night imagery has become the cornerstone of information required to produce NIC regional, tactical, and special support.
The Primary mission need of the NIC is captured in the NPOESS Integrated Operational Requirements Document (IORD II), wherein stated, is the U.S. Government (USG) requirement for the NPOESS to yield reliable global imagery and atmospheric, oceanic, land, solar and space environmental measurements in support of nowcast and forecast of ice conditions.

5. SAR Data Requirements Support NOAA’s Mission Goals
Goal (4) Support the Nation’s Commerce with Information for Safe, Efficient and Environmentally Sound Transportation
- NIC ice nowcast and forecast information support vital civilian and military shipping in waters that contain navigational ice hazards.
Goal (3) Serve society’s need for weather and water information.
- Products provides real-time ice nowcast to improve accuracy of NWS weather prediction model outputs
Goal (2) Understand Climate Variability and Change to Enhance Society’s Ability to Plan and Respond
- Polar research activities contribute to better understanding of cryosphere and oceans
Requirements for Ice thickness, ice concentration, location of ice edge and pack ice boundary (Marginal Ice Zone) for entire Arctic/Northern Ports from SUBFORCE/ONI
No written rqmnt, but repeated requests for information in the Yellow Sea from US Forces Korea
Project involving detailed analysis of the High Arctic for greater fracture (FLAP)/thickness information following Arctic Sub Lab visit of Nov 2004 – this is ongoing, rolled into SUBFORCE rqmnt
Input to OTSR – reqmnts letter from NLMOC, but we provide ice routing info to all centers when they have units operating near ice

6. SAR Requirements (con’t)
Support NAVY Operational Mission Requirements:
SUBFORCE letter 21 SEP 05 (validated by CFFC)
Daily Ice edge/Marginal Ice Zone
Fractures, Leads, Polynyas
Ice thickness twice per week
• Office of Naval Intelligence
• Request for classified products
Current and expected ice conditions in harbors
Ice thickness and icebreaking rqmnts in harbors
Navy Atlantic METOC Center letter 05 SEP 03 (OTSR Support)
Route specific ice edge information, iceberg position
Support USCG Icebreaking Missions:
DISTRICT 5 AND 9 MOA’S
International Ice Patrol
Ches/Del Bay, Great Lakes icebreaking operations
* Ice Impacts On Safety Of Life And Commerce At Sea
Requirements for Ice thickness, ice concentration, location of ice edge and pack ice boundary (Marginal Ice Zone) for entire Arctic/Northern Ports from SUBFORCE/ONI
No written rqmnt, but repeated requests for information in the Yellow Sea from US Forces Korea
Project involving detailed analysis of the High Arctic for greater fracture (FLAP)/thickness information following Arctic Sub Lab visit of Nov 2004 – this is ongoing, rolled into SUBFORCE rqmnt
Input to OTSR – reqmnts letter from NLMOC, but we provide ice routing info to all centers when they have units operating near ice

7. FY07 Access to SAR Data RADARSAT-1 (R-1)
Received by U.S. Government (USG) under NASA/NOAA/Canadian Space Agency (CSA) MOU
Under this MOU:
R-1 data currently being received over Western Arctic and processed at Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) for an annual fee of $185K.
SAR over Great Lakes area received from CSA in exchange for SAR over Alaska Region.
Images over all other NIC AOR’s (Eastern Arctic, Antarctic)
Currently 90% of Navy SAR requirements now met via NGA funding.
CONCERNS:
1) RADARSAT-1 MOU extension will expire upon launch & checkout of RADARSAT-2 (est. launch is the 3rd Qtr of CY months checkout) or November 2007.
2) R-2 is a commercial mission and currently NOAA/Navy expected to pay commercial rates for data beginning FY08 & beyond. (est. $ per scene)

8. Planned (FY08) Access to SAR Data
Japanese Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS ) PALSAR Data
NOAA/JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) /ASF Agreements
JAXA/ASF/NESDIS MOU: ASF will process and provide 1800 NRT SAR imagers/yr within Alaska station mask
NASA/NOAA/JAXA/ASF Agreement
NOAA/JAXA MOU designates ASF as the Americas Data Node
U.S. Government PALSAR Data Consortium
JAXA authorized distribution of ALOS data through regional nodes
ASF Station mask to offer NRT processed $125 per scene
US government PALSAR data consortium could lower cost and enable sharing of data amongst government agencies and sponsored researchers.
 A shared cost of $450K/yr for 11,000 scenes/yr would cost about $41/scene (compared to $125/scene).
A shared NOAA partnership investment could enable cost effective purchase additional Alaska data, Great Lakes and other NIC SAR required data.
Concerns:
Although data becomes operational in 2007, it is still uncertain how accurate L-band data will be for winter ice imaging

9. Proposed Initiatives for Future SAR Access
RADARSAT-1 (R-1)
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has approved funding to extend operation of the RADARSAT-1 (R-1) satellite throughout the International Polar Year (IPY) to March 2009
Concern: For Research use only
Craig Dobson (NASA) and Eric Madsen (NOAA) currently pursuing a R-1 Extension Agreement with CSA which addresses USA contribution (downlink and ground station assets) for the continued operating of R-1 through IPY.
ISSUE: Basic language designates Non-Operational use only
Announcements of Opportunities/Demo Projects
- Work on International Cooperative Agreements to Acquire Data from Future SAR Satellites
- Federal Government/Private Industry Ventures
- NOAA Partnerships
Issue: No guaranteed operational Data obtained without additional investment funds

10. Fairbanks, Alaska 17 8875 350 2006 Total: 8922 SCW Frames
FY 06 RS-1 Data Use via RadarSat-1 MOU
Gatineau, Canada for NSF
Fairbanks, Alaska 17
Gatineau, Canada thru CIS and NOAA
Exchange Agreement (Great Lakes Region)
8875
350
2006 Total: 8922 SCW Frames

11. FY 07 RS-1 Data Use (Naval Ice Center mission)
Via NGA*
Gatineau, Canada
Tromso, Norway
313
2831
*NGA funded for images to cover of the East Arctic, Greenland, Yellow Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and Sea of Japan
Total Funding:
FY 07 (June 2006 – August 2007) - $5.8
FY08 (September 2007 – August 2008) - $8.2
2006 Total: 3144 SCW Frames

12. NIC SAR Usage Focused Area Analyses
Fixed locations such as ports, harbors, river mouths, channels and sounds
Large Area Analysis
Global Ice monitoring for maritime and land-based operations, transits, and search and rescue operations
Area Mapping
SAR is beneficial for ice climatology, which can be added to area maps
Area Feature & Surface Type Identification
In Polar areas, ice can be present on a permanent, seasonal or temporary scale
Ice can affect the availability of piers, channels and freeways
Fast ice and large ice floes can also be used tactically as roads or landing sites
Flood Assessment & Mitigation Support
Ice can cause "ice jams" that effectively dam rivers and cause flooding

13. SAR Usage Sea ice, Iceberg & Obstacle Detection
Sea ice analysis and forecasting is critical to submarine, icebreaking, ice transiting, and on-ice operations
Sea ice monitoring on a regular basis provides a database for climatology studies
Pollution Assessment & Mitigation Support
SAR is capable of detecting pollution events such as oil spills or large scale oil dumps in the open ocean

14. NIC SAR Imaging Requirements
NIC uses primarily ScanSAR Wide for scale analysis. Occasionally, the NIC requires higher resolution imagery for tactical scale analysis and Iceberg detection.
The examples below are based on Radarsat 1 specifications:
ScanSAR Wide
100 meter nominal spatial resolution
500 X 500 km swath width
ScanSAR Narrow
50 meter nominal spatial resolution
300 X 300 km swath width
Standard
30 meter nominal spatial resolution
100 X 100 km swath width
Wide

15. Scope of the Budgetary Challenge for NIC Mission Requirements
MAXIMUM SAR IMAGERY COST FOR NOAA
AREA
Maximum Coverage x $2000
Median Coverage
x $2000
Minimum Coverage x $2000
Current Coverage x $2000*
Great Lakes
1272
705
354
310
U.S. East Coast (D-1)
1358
1052
563
U.S. East Coast (D-5)
210
152 53 10
Total U.S. Lake & River Coverage
2840
1908
970
470
Western Arctic
(Alaska)
9945
3684
3660
8875
(R-1 MOU)
**Eastern Arctic
(Yel./Okst/Japan)
11,102
5384
4528
(2738 = $5,200K)**
= $600K
Antarctic
5187
2912
624 29
Total NOAA SAR Coverage
14,057
3,297
4,984
9655
Total NIC Mission Coverage
14,057 X 2000 =
$ 28.1M
3,297 X 2000 =
$6.6M
4984 X 2000 =
$10M
9655 X 2000 =
$19.3M
* COST if NIC paid Commercial Rates. (Current NOAA Cost is $185K because of RadarSat MOU) ** Paid by NGA for Navy SAR

16. Questions?