SAMCoT - Annual Report 2015

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RUNA A. SKARBØ

is the lastes addition to SAMCoT’s WP4 team of researchers. She

started her PhD work in October 2015 as part of a collaborative project between the

Centre for Integrated Remote Sensing and Forecasting for Arctic Operations (CIRFA) and

SAMCoT. CIRFA is hosted by the Department of Physics and Technology at UiT – the Arctic

University of Norway.

Her topic of research is ice drift prediction and the mitigation of impact from sea ice on

marine operations. The goal of her research is to use observations to produce a model to

predict the ice drift around a vessel operating in the Arctic. Information about ice drift is

required to perform efficient and effective ice management operations. This model will

eliminate the need to place physical tracking beacons on the ice, which is both expensive

and has a high risk as they are often lost. The predictions are based on a combination of

regional ice drift data retrieved from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images and

local ice drift data obtained from radars on the vessels.

Since her arrival at NTNU, Skarbø has focused on defining her PhD project plan, including

studies on a research cruise in the Arctic Ocean in 2014. In addition, she has completed

different courses to gain a further understanding of ice mechanics and the fundamentals

of ice drift in the Arctic Ocean. After just a couple of months, Skarbø was ready to start

working on publications, hence the conference paper she will submit for the 23rd IAHR

International Symposium on ICE 2016 on drift prediction of icebergs and ice floes in the

Greenland Sea.

Companies performing offshore activities in ice-infested waters show great interest in

iceberg drift prediction due to the severe consequences of an iceberg-structure collision

and because its prediction presents a great challenge. This is due to the fact that iceberg

drift prediction is mainly dependent on ocean currents which are not well known in the

Arctic. Skarbø’s publication looks at whether the drift of icebergs can be modelled using

information about the drift of ice floes nearby. The drift of sea ice is easier to predict, as it

is mainly affected by wind, which is better known in the area..

SAMC

• ANNUAL REPORT 2015

Photo: Tom Willems