14. starptautiskā konference 2012 - Latvijas Jūras akadēmija

Proceedings of 14th International conference „Maritime Transport and Infrastructure - 2012”MONITORING OF ICE CONDITIONS AT SEA USING MICRO CLASSUNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLESIlmārs Lešinskis*, Aleksandrs Urbahs** Aleksands Pavlovičs***, VladimirsPetrovs*****Latvian Maritime Academy, 5B Flotesst, LV-1016, Latvia, E-mail:ilmars.lesinskis@latja.lv**Riga Technical University, Kaļķu 1, LV-1658, Rīga, Latvia, E-mail:aleksandrs.urbahs@rtu.lv*** Latvian Maritime Academy, 5B Flotesst, LV-1016, Latvia, E-mail:info@latja.lv****Riga Technical University, Kaļķu 1, LV-1658, Rīga, Latvia, E-mail:vladimirs.petrovs@rtu.lvAbstractThis title describes an experiment, where the capability and potential of using the micro classUnmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for ice conditions recognisance has been probed practically. Theexperiment has been conducted with the means of UAV Krauklis, manufactured in TechnicalUniversity of Riga and equipped with the electromotor, thus considerably minimizing the ecologicalimpact, compared with these UAVs equipped with combustion propulsion. There are seemingly manyways and methods of acquiring the data and information about ice conditions at sea and coastal zone;however, in areas with the dynamic process of ice shifts and movements, there is necessity to haveclose to real time picture. Precise ice cover information can be of vital importance for ships at sea,especially when such situation has being aggravated. The outcome of experiment is practical proof,that micro-class UAV can be effectively implemented, thou with minor limitations, for local iceconditions reconnaissance and surveillance at sea.KEY WORDS: ice at sea, UAV, Gulf of Riga.IntroductionThe notorious process of Global Warming does not affect much practical ice navigation notonly in the Polar Regions, but also in the Baltic Sea. Operators and actors of maritime industry shouldarrange safe and absolutely reliable maritime traffic in heavy ice conditions, so, the leveraged andlayered data and information about ice covers at sea become of extreme importance. The data on iceconditions at sea can be in form of assumed forecast or/and factually collected, real data. Nowadayssuch blocks of information on ice cover at sea can be originated from different sources: ships on sites,coastal surveillance and weather stations, satellites, and aircraft [1].Due to modern rapid developments of UAVs worldwide, there is innovative opportunity todeploy them for needs of ice surveillance and reconnaissance. Direct UAV surveillance andvisualisation of ice conditions at sea provides the real-time capture of ice situation. Implementation ofUAVs for these purposes massively decreases associated risks and functional expenses [2].Keyconsumer of this information is a ship in marine area, which has to select optimal and best passage,once the ice field is expected to be penetrated.Operational data or streamlined information about ice condition is specifically important atareas, where ice covers are very dynamic, rapidly changing and unstable. Maritime regions as theareas of “Unstable Ice Conditions” could be defined, where mere existence and forming up of the iceis the variable process, depending not only on seasons but also differentiated from year to year.TheBaltic Sea definitely is the region of “Unstable Ice Conditions”. The seasonal winter distribution of icecover at sea is extremely diversified. For instance, there were some years, when Bay of Riga wascompletely covered by ice; other years are characterised by partial, spotted ice cover throughout theareas, and in some years Baltic Sea surface was ice-less all around the winter season without tangibleimpact on navigation [3].In the process of ice conditions surveillance, as the provisional tool of minimizing negativeeconomic impact on the maritime industry, has been implemented micro class UAV from Technical57