Download 2007 status of NIC SAR support

National Ice Center
Synthetic Aperture Radar
(SAR) Usage
Ms. Sharolyn Young
NOAA/ NESDIS/ NIC
August 15, 2007
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
NATIONAL ICE CENTER
Vision:
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.
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
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SAR is the only sensor with required combination of:
Aerial Coverage (global)
High Resolution
Cloud Discerning (Arctic & cold regions are cloud covered 75-80 %
of typical winter season)
•
NOAA/NIC MAJOR CONCERN & PRIORITY:
Insuring continued affordable access to SAR data.
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
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
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 CY2007 + 3 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. $2000.00 per scene)
Planned (FY08) Access to SAR Data
Japanese Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS ) PALSAR Data
•
NOAA/JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) /ASF Agreements
-
•
NASA/NOAA/JAXA/ASF Agreement
-
•
JAXA/ASF/NESDIS MOU: ASF will process and provide 1800 NRT SAR imagers/yr
within Alaska station mask
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 data @ $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
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
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
2006 Total: 8922 SCW Frames
350
FY 07 RS-1 Data Use (Naval Ice Center mission)
Via
NGA*
Tromso, Norway
Gatineau, Canada
2831
313
*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
NIC SAR Usage
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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
SAR Usage
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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
NIC SAR Imaging Requirements
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NIC uses primarily ScanSAR Wide for scale analysis. Occasionally, the NIC requires higher
resolution imagery for tactical scale analysis and Iceberg detection.
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The examples below are based on Radarsat 1 specifications:
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ScanSAR Wide
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100 meter nominal spatial resolution
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500 X 500 km swath width
ScanSAR Narrow
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50 meter nominal spatial resolution
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300 X 300 km swath width
Standard
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30 meter nominal spatial resolution
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100 X 100 km swath width
Wide
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30 meter nominal spatial resolution
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300 X 300 km swath width
Questions?