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Annual Report 2016
SAMCoT
PhD candidate Runa A. Skarbø bridges the work of SFI
SAMCoT and SFI CIRFA (Centre for Integrated Remote
Sensing and Forecasting for Arctic Operations). Skarbø
focuses on the operational use of ice intelligence retri-
eved from remote sensing products such as Synthetic
Aperture Radar (SAR) images, marine radar and other
remote sensing technologies. Skarbø’s work aims to
use the ice information compiled with drift prediction
in order to assess the related risks and scenarios for
marine offshore operations in the Arctic.
During 2016, Skarbø used a model, developed by
SAMCoT PhD candidate R. Yulmetov in 2015, to inves-
tigate the difference between iceberg drift in sea ice
compared to open water. Becoming acquainted with this
model was important for her research as it is linked to
the topic of ‘ice drift prediction’. This work provided her
with useful insight. In addition, Skarbø participated in a
six-week research cruise to the Arctic Ocean. The scope
of Skarbø’s work was to collect valuable full-scale data
and to gain experience from ships travelling in sea ice
and icebreaking. Skarbø collected data series of radar
images while the ship was stationary, in addition to data
from SAR products from Radarsat-2, ground truthing
from buoy drifters, meteorological data and rheological
data from the ice.
USE OF REMOTE SENSING FOR ARCTIC MARINE OPERATIONS
Skarbø during the Arctic Ocean 2016 research cruise on board the icebreaker Oden.