Improving ice-monitoring in the Antarctic
The Southern Ocean in the Antarctic is an increasingly busy route for sea traffic related mainly to scientific research, transport freight, fishing and tourists’ experiences. However, ever-changing pack ice and icebergs pose a serious danger to marine safety.
Because of the remote and inhospitable nature of the Southern Ocean, satellite imagery offers the only real practical means of obtaining timely information on sea ice, which is crucial to ensure safe and efficient marine traffic.
For some years, ESA has been providing these key satellite data to aid navigation but the ‘Polar View’ ice-monitoring service in the Antarctic has recently been greatly improved by a wealth of real-time satellite images, made easily accessible through a new website. The latter works by providing an interactive map that displays the latest satellite imagery and sea-ice information.
Although Envisat is currently the main provider of images for the Polar View’s website, the future Sentinel satellites of GMES are also expected to contribute with more data.
The ‘Polar View’ is an international initiative that provides Earth Observation services and data products for environmental monitoring and safety in the polar regions. In this capacity, Polar View is at the forefront of providing ice-monitoring services for GMES.
Source GMES.Info
