Scandinavian Airlines System's
e Sea Ice Reporting Service
On the initiative of the Arctic Institute in Copen-
at of hagen regular photographic reconnaissance is carried
1° out by Scandinavian Airlines System over the waters be-
tween Svalbard and Greenland as soon as light conditions
and visibility are favorable. This area is crossed six
times & week throughout the year by the company's Global
> 1 Expresses on their flights between Europe and the Far
her's East via the North Pole.
The observations are made at an altitude of about
m 19,700 feet or 6,000 m. by the crew of the aircraft.
? The cameras used for this purpose are small hand-held
ones of amateur type. The negative scale will be very
small, the quality of the photo, however, is said to be
Hes good enough for registering the ice situation. In
either case there ought to be good possibilities for
fixing the position of the Ice Edge which from a statis-
" tical viewpoint is of great importance for Arctic re-
: search and long range ice forecast.
The photographs are sent to Arktisk Institut in
ern Copenhagen and Norsk Polarinstitutt in Oslo.
Sea ice observations are reported to the Scandinavian
Airlines System's radio stations at Andenes in north
B Ice Norway and Isfjord in Vestspitsbergen. In cloudy
25 weather and during the period of winter darkness ob-
servations are made with the help of radar.
(See Polar Record, Vol. 9, No. 59, May 1958, p.156)
Dr. Frank Walker of the University of Bristol, Eng-
areas land, reports that, in producing the first maps of the
be- Falkland Island Dependencies to be based on air photo-
melt graphs, the Directorate of Overseas Surveys had its
more first experience of ice interpretation, but was able to
+ AS turn to the surveyors who had worked in the area for
rther help over doubtful points.
An article on "The Falkland Islands and Dependencies
rpre* Aerial Survey Expedition" by P.G. Mott includes & sec-
cial tion on interpretation and was published in "The Photo-
oi grammetric Record" April 1958.
ities
Dr. Walker also notes in his report that some part
of the work for Dr. C.W.M. Swithinbank's "Ice Atlas of
te the Arctic Canada" was based on the use of air photographs
st or and was carried out at the Scott Polar Research Insti-
As tute, Cambridge, England.
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i Archives 6
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The Sea Ice represents inexhaustible resources for
research. The valuable aid photo reconnaissance and {
photo interpretation offer to this research cannot be |
disregarded. Photos taken with measuring accuracy and |
perfect sharpness are favorable for a successful inter-
pretation and a scientific study of the material.
As regards Land Ice, photo interpretation has become
à valuable tool for glaciologists whether they work with
temperate or polar glaciers, on problems related to
glacier movement, glacier regime, size variations or
almost anything of glaciological interest. There are
numerous problems which can be tackled only if air |
photographs are available. (Schytt).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The following delegates and collaborators are active
in this part of Commission VII:
Canada - Miss Moira Dunbar, Directorate of Physical
Research (Geophysics), Defence Research Board, Department
of National Defence, Ottawa; England - Dr. Terence
Armstrong, Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge;
Finland - Dr. Erkki Palosuo, Institute of Marine Re-
search, Helsinki (Helsingfors); Japan - Professor,
Dr. Kou Kusunnoki and Mr. Ono, The Institute of Low
Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo;
Sweden - Dr. Bertil Rodhe, The Swedish Meteorological
and Hydrological Institute, Dr. Valter Schytt, The
Institute of Geography, Stockholm University, and
Captain Ragnar Thoren, Royal Swedish Navy, all in
Stockholm; U.S.A. - Professor, Dr. Geza Teleki,
Department of Geology, George Washington University,
Washington 6, D. C. Reports of activity in ice inter-
pretation have also been received from Dr. Frank Walker,
University of Bristol, England.
