Space-related service to improve situational awareness and navigation in ice covered water areas

The IceCast service aims at improving situational awareness for vessels in ice conditions and at helping navigation planning in ice covered water areas for both land operations and vessels. It is the continuation of the ISABELIA feasibility study co-founded by ESA and led by VTT in 2014. The IceCast project ultimate objectives are: to create capabilities to fetch different types of data (AIS and SAT-AIS data, automatic ice thickness map generated from SAR satellite images, ice waypoints given by icebreakers); to create capabilities to analyse AIS and SAT-AIS data; to generate numerical and visual information objects from the data; and to create quick and easy ways to understand user interface. Main users of the service are vessel operators and shipping companies (cargo, passenger, icebreakers), authorities (customs, VTS centres, border guards), other logistics related companies (logistic service providers, cargo owners, and port operators). The service is technically based on the AIS system (Automated Information System) used in maritime operations. It uses SAT-AIS to significantly expand the coverage of AIS tracking. However, as AIS system is not possible without automatic information on the location and movement of the vessel, this information is made possible through GNSS. The service also exposes information that has been produced by analysing satellite radar (SAR) images, to give a graphical representation on the ice thickness in the Baltic Sea region. Finally, a further important enabler for the usage of the service is satellite based Internet connectivity as for vessels far at sea, it is the only viable option for connecting to the Internet.