Vilkitskogo Strait

The Vilkitskogo Strait, which is the northernmost part of the Northeast Passage, is a very difficult area for ice navigation. Thick residual floes (second- or multiyear ice) often occur in this region where differential ice motion causes heavy compression and ridging of the ice pack. The large thick floes, heavy ridges and as well as landfast ice make it difficult to navigate even for the most powerful icebreakers. The ERS-1 SAR image of November 4, 1993 shows examples of the ice types which often occur in the Vilkitskogo Strait (see the location of the SAR image).

The "Sovetsky Soyuz" navigated along the Taimyr coast in the flaw lead denoted A, B, C. The polynya consisted of young ice 15-30 cm thick (dark signature) which was easy to penetrate. Other ice types are thin first-year ice about 40 cm thick (area D) and multiyear ice about 3 m thick. The multiyear ice has a high backscatter, in contrast to the young and first-year ice. Mapping of multiyear ice is very important because navigation through such ice is difficult and should be avoided. The SAR image of November 4 provided useful information for the icebreakers to find the best sailing route. Navigation through the flaw lead along the Taimyr coast was much faster and less difficult and hazardous than through alternative routes.

The Russian ice map (translated to English) of the same area is shown here.

NERSC, Bergen, Norway

Keywords: ESA European Space Agency - Agence spatiale europeenne, observation de la terre, earth observation, satellite remote sensing, teledetection, geophysique, altimetrie, radar, chimique atmospherique, geophysics, altimetry, radar, atmospheric chemistry