RAMN 2005 - Canadian Coast Guard World Wide Web

Canadian Coast Guard

Marine Communications & Traffic Services

RAMN 2005

CANADIAN ICE SERVICE (CIS)

Marine Ice Forecast Program

Compared to marine weather programs, time scales for ice forecasts are relatively longer. Useful time scales for ice forecast are weekly, monthly and seasonal. At present, the program provides 30 day ice forecast (text) mainly as a planning tool for operators. Specific forecasts for specific areas and specific time scales may be available through requests but they will be cost recovered.

As part of its support to Canadian Coast Guard and shipping, CIS does produce NAVTEX bulletins. These bulletins are created on a daily basis for the southern waters (Newfoundland, Gulf of St Lawrence and the Great Lakes) and are sent to MCTS Centres where they are broadcast. The bulletin depicts the current ice edge and the ice conditions for the specific areas as well as ice warnings when issued.

Marine Ice Warnings Program

Ice hazard bulletins are produced daily. The intent is to advise users of any ice warning conditions that are in effect or that could develop within the next 24 hours. The bulletins also provide a point by point description of the ice edge.

Ice Warning Criteria

Warning Name	Warning criteria	Lead time
Ice pressure warning	Strong ice pressure in coastal areas and channels where shipping is active.	36 hours
Closing of leads warning	Rapid closing of coastal leads is expected to occur.	36 hours
Special Ice warnings	When an area has cleared of ice for a significant period of time then first-year ice or old ice moves into the area, then a warning is necessary.	36 hours
	When a port or narrow shipping channel is normally open or has been open for a significant amount of time and is expected to become blocked or jammed by ice, then a warning is necessary.	36 hours
	When ice intrudes into areas not normally affected by ice during the season or at times when ice is not normally expected. Climatologically, not normal would mean less than 34% occurrence.	36 hours
	Any amount of Old Ice greater than a trace when not normally expected in active shipping areas	36 hours
	Any unusual and significant ice event that will present an extreme hazard to navigation, and is not covered by other ice warning categories, can be issued as a special ice warning.	36 hours

Ice Reports, Ice Observations

Ice reports from ships or other airborne platform are normally handled through MCTS Centres who make them available for broadcast. These reports are all assimilated in the daily ice charts produced by CIS.

Ice Charts Available

Current ice conditions charts are also produced on a daily basis. The area covered by the chart is season dependent and the charts are normally broadcast at times specified in tables below.

Once a week, CIS produces Regional ice charts. These charts are intended to be used as a planning tool rather than a tactical support tool and are available to users on the CIS website at http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca and through commercial communication lines. They are not broadcast through MCTS Centres.

Ice Beacons

In order to better track the ice drift or to verify ice models, CIS deploys between 4 to 8 ice beacons (locators) yearly. These devices do drift with the ice and are relatively small, so they are very hard to detect from a ship platform. The deployment is done in the Beaufort sea polar pack (1 beacon), in Baffin Bay (1 to 3 beacons), off the East Coast of Labrador or Newfoundland (1 to 3) and in the Gulf of St Lawrence (2 to 4).

Weatheradio Canada

Ice bulletins are not directly put on Weatheradio. Rather, the regions do capture the ice bulletins from the Environment Canada communication network and check if there is an ice warning in effect. If there is one, the warning will normally be added to the regular marine synopsis which is normally broadcast via the Weatheradio network.

Updated: 28/07/2005

Important Notices