Ice Sensing Technologies with Applications in Augmented Situational Awareness

This paper contains a literature review of technologies employed in the scientific literature to provide data on ice severity to augment situational awareness of human operators (aboard a ship or in a remote control center) and eventually autonomous navigation algorithms. As ships navigate in ice, masters use a wide source of information to assess the ice conditions along their planned route. This information is used to make ongoing assessments of the ice severity and to decide how to optimize the route to avoid damage to the ship, besetting, etc. Typically, this assessment is made by the officers in charge of the ship based on observations, experience, and metocean publications such as weather forecasts and ice charts. Significant levels of experience needed to safely assess and navigate in complex or severe ice conditions. A fundamental challenge in allowing autonomy or decision-support for navigation of ice-covered waters is providing accurate and relevant ice severity data that feeds decision-making.