DestinE Sea Ice Decision Enhancement

DESIDE Services

Dashboard

Polar TEP

IcySea

DESIDE Background

Ships operating in the polar regions encounter hazards that present elevated levels of risk and more severe consequences when accidents occur.

The DESIDE project utilizes Destination Earth system capabilities and data to provide comprehensive sea ice and related information for policy and operational decision makers in the Baltic Sea, European Arctic Ocean, and other polar regions.

Benefits to polar operations and society include:

Increased Safety:
Accurate information supports strategic and tactical decision-making, enhancing safety of life and property.

Pollution Reduction:
Efficient route optimization minimizes fuel consumption and emissions.

Protection of Sensitive Environmental Areas:
Better forecasts can help policymakers protect environmentally sensitive areas affected by changing polar conditions.

Objectives

Aggregating diverse information sources to provide common products across jurisdictional boundaries.

Producing new forecast products to improve decision-making by users.

Customizing delivery of products to different user communities based on their needs.

Drivers

Regulatory Compliance

Deliver short and medium-term forecasts of ice, meteorological, and ocean conditions, meeting the requirements of the IMO Polar Code.

Climate Change Effects

Provide long-term forecasts on changing ice and other conditions, enabling planning and policy development for the fishing, tourism, research, and oil and gas industries.

Decision Support Levels

DESIDE supports policy and decision making at three levels within the context of polar operations:

Execution support:
Supporting ships needing to avoid or navigate through sea ice.

Planning support:
Supporting ship operators in planning polar voyages, guided by the information requirements of the IMO Polar Code.

Strategy and policy support:
Supporting organizations and policy analysts wanting to assess the impact of climate change on future decisions regarding polar operations.

Workflow

Data Ingestion:
Collect past, current, and forecasted information on sea ice, snow thickness, icebergs, ocean currents and waves, wind, temperature, visibility, and Sentinel-1 imagery from DESP/DestinE.

Data Processing, Modeling, and Analysis:
Use models, machine learning, and algorithms to process data for different user communities.

Information Dissemination:
Through decision support platforms.

Information Product Generation:
Create short, medium, and long-term sea ice charts, risk profiles, and route optimization suggestions for better decision-making.