Polar View Earth Observation Limited is working in collaboration with EOX IT Services, Drift+Noise Polar Services, the Danish Meteorological Institute, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, and the Finnish Meteorological Institute to develop a fully functional Use Case that utilizes the DESP/DestinE system capabilities and data and adds value to meet the needs of policy and decision makers who require information on the past, current, and forecasted sea ice and other relevant conditions for operational purposes in the Baltic Sea, European Arctic Ocean, and the rest of the polar regions.
The Use Case will build on and complement existing operational and climate sea ice products and services including those provided by the Copernicus Marine Service, the national Ice Services, the ESA Polar Thematic Exploitation Platform (Polar TEP), and the commercial Drift+Noise IcySea app. The Use Case will augment and improve on the current offerings by:
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Aggregating information of different types and from different sources to provide common products that span jurisdictional boundaries.
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Producing new products that will improve the ability of users to make good decisions.
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Making the products available in ways and means that are appropriate for the skills and requirements of different user communities.
One driver for the project is the regulation of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations mandating that ships operating in the polar regions meet certain requirements (the Polar Code). Among other things, the Polar Code specifies a range of information that ships traveling in polar waters are required to access for planning and operations. The Use Case will demonstrate the value of short and medium-term forecasts of sea ice, meteorological, and ocean conditions suitable for strategic and tactical decision making by ships and their owners.
A second driver for the project is the effect of climate change on polar conditions that will impact long-term planning and policy development for polar operations such as fishing, tourism, scientific research campaigns, oil and gas development, and supplying northern communities. The Use Case will deliver long-term forecasts of how changing sea ice and other conditions will affect where different types of ships will be able to travel in the polar regions compared to historical averages.
Benefits to polar operations and the rest of society will include increased safety of life and property, decreased pollution, and protection of sensitive environmental areas.