Near-Realtime Visualisation "DSHIP Mapviewer"
An electronic charting system (MapViewer) on board of RV Polarstern enables users to visualize sea ice information e.g. from satellites and models. Data are made available from different providers in near-real time. The tool is browser-based and can be used on any connected PC/notebook/tablet. The system administrator on board is responsible for the maintenance and setup of the MapViewer. Most data products are available per default. Others must be ordered in advance. User data such as GeoTIFFs can be easily integrated on short notice.
Data Products
The following data products are generally available onboard or, in some cases, need to be ordered before your expedition.
| Example Image | Name | Category | Description | Availability / Order Procedure | Data Provider | Responsible Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modis Terra | Satellite / Hyperspectral Imaging | Parameter: Optic camera Resolution: ??? Update interval: Daily Regions: Antarctic and Arctic, tiles decided by cruise leader / captain The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra (EOS AM) satellite, launched by NASA in 1999; and one on board the Aqua (EOS PM) satellite, launched in 2002. With its high temporal resolution although low spatial resolution, MODIS data are useful to track changes in the sea ice coverage over time. If new scenes are available, images are centered around the ship and send on board. |  Always active | Drift Noise GmbH (support@driftnoise.com) | |
| HRPT | Satellite / Hyperspectral Imaging | Parameter: Optic camera Resolution: ~1.1 km Update interval: Multiple satellite passes per day | Always active | Polarstern onboard system | AWI Vessel Coordination (schiffskoord@awi.de) |
| IceDrift from GCOM W1 AMSR2 | Model / Ice Drift | Parameter: Sea Ice Drift vectors Resolution: 6 km Update interval: Daily Regions: Antarctic and Arctic Sea ice concentration images for the Arctic and Antarctic are generated hourly from the 6km spatial resolution AMSR2 data. A running composite is a combination of multiple swaths of data; the latest swath extends the data of the previous composite image. For more information please contact | Always active | Drift Noise GmbH (support@driftnoise.com) Original data source: | |
| Sea Ice Concentration from GCOM W1 AMSR2 | Model / Sea Ice Concentration | Parameter: Sea Ice Concentration Resolution: 1 km Update interval: Multiples per day Regions: Antarctic and Arctic | Always active | University of Bremen https://seaice.uni-bremen.de/sea-ice-concentration/modis-amsr2/ | |
| Sigma S6 Ice Radar | Shipboard Radar / Sea Ice | Parameter: Radar Update interval: 5 minutes A X-band radar manufactured by Rutter Inc. is a fixed device onboard of the Polarstern. The highly resolved radar images around the ship body are used for navigation purposes and can also be visualized as a layer in the MapViewer charting system for additional information of the users. | | Polarstern onboard system | AWI Vessel Coordination (schiffskoord@awi.de) |
| RCM (RADARSAT Constellation Mission) | Satellite / Radar | Parameter: Radar image Resolution: ??? Update interval: < weekly Regions: Antarctic and Arctic, tiles decided by cruise leader / captain The RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) is a three-spacecraft fleet of Earth observation satellites operated by the Canadian Space Agency. The RCM's goal is to provide data for climate research and commercial applications including oil exploration, fishing, shipping, etc. The primary goal of RCM is to provide continuous C-band SAR data with a higher frequent area coverage especially in the Arctic. If new scenes are available, images are centered around the ship and send on board. | Always active | Drift Noise GmbH (support@driftnoise.com) Original data source: | |
| Sentinel 1 SAR | Satellite / Radar | Parameter: Radar image Resolution: ??? Update interval: < weekly Regions:
The Sentinel-1 ESA mission comprises a constellation of two polar-orbiting satellites, operating day and night performing C-band synthetic aperture radar imaging, enabling them to acquire imagery regardless of the weather. Sentinel-1 works in a pre-programmed operation mode to avoid conflicts and to produce a consistent long-term data archive built for applications based on long time series. A software at AWI (http://framsat.driftnoise.com/) continuously monitors the ship position. If new scenes are available, images are centered around the ship and sent on board. In addition, users can setup monitoring jobs, e.g. to investigate accessibility of different regions. | Polarstern centered tile:
Regional tiles for your research areas of interest:
| Drift Noise GmbH (support@driftnoise.com) Original data: | |
| Terra SAR X | Satellite / Radar | Parameter: Radar image Resolution: ???? Update interval: < weekly Regions: As ordered TerraSAR-X images are high-resolution radar satellite data from polar orbiting satellites, operating day and night with a X-band synthetic aperture radar. The images are taken upon request that needs to be placed by the expedition leader no later than 17 hours before the requested time. After recording, the data are downloaded by the next possible down link to the receiving station. After the reception of the data, the images are pre-processed and compacted to a zip-file with a size of max. 2 MB. The zip-file contains a georeferenced png (only usable for GIS when the related xml and wld is in the same folder) and is send via email or ftp download link to the expedition leader and the MapView pull software. Mean delivery delay is between 30 min and 2 hours. Images from the German TerraSAR-X satellite are distributed commercially and are restricted to license agreements between the user and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). AWI has signed a license agreement for images requested for the voyages against the background to support a smooth operation. |
In best case mention it in expedition coordination meeting. | DLR https://www.dlr.de/de/forschung-und-transfer/projekte-und-missionen/terrasar-x | AWI Vessel Coordination (schiffskoord@awi.de) |
| Chlorophyll | Satellite / Hyperspectral Imaging | Parameter: Chlorophyll concentration Processing: L4 NRT, gapfree Resolution: 4x4 km Update interval: Daily | Always available | Met Office (UK) via Copernicus Original data: | AWI Data Centre / Data Logistics Support |
| Sea Surface Temperature | Satellite / Hyperspectral Imaging | Parameter: Analysed Sea Surface Temperature Processing: L4 merge of various satellite systems Resolution: 0.05° × 0.05° Update interval: Daily, 12:00 UTC | Always available | ACRI (France) via Copernicus Original data: | AWI Data Centre / Data Logistics Support |
| Open Street Map | Coastlines | Parameter: Radar image Resolution: ???? Update interval: No periodical updates. Regions: As ordered |
| Werum Software & Systems AG, original data from https://www.openstreetmap.org/ | AWI Data Centre / Data Logistics Support |
| Marine Regions | Maritime Boundaries | Parameter:
Version: v11 (2019) Update interval: No periodical updates. |
| Original data: Marine Regions (https://doi.org/10.14284/386) | AWI Data Centre / Data Logistics Support |
| AWI Bathymetry | Multibeam Echosounding / Bathymetry | Parameter: Bathymetry / Water depth rasters acquired by AWI Bathymetry group either on RV Polarstern or on other vessels Update interval: 1-2 per year Regions: Global |
| AWI Bathymetry Group (bathymetry@awi.de) | |
| Drift Buoys | Position Tracker | Deliver as CSV and everything might be fine |
| This depends on your bouys! | AWI Data Centre / Data Logistics Support |
| Sea Ice Classes | Model / Sea Ice Classification | Parameter: Optical image ice classification Update interval: 1-2 per year Regions: Global | ??? | ???? | |
| TOPAZ4 | Model / Sea Ice Drift Forecast | Parameter: Resolution: ~1.1 km Regions: Antarctic and Arctic Update interval: Daily The TOPAZ system is an ocean forecasting system developed under the TOPAZ project in EC Framework V. The TOPAZ project was finished in 2003. The lessons learned in that project where carried into the MERSEA Strand 1 and MERSEA-IP projects, where the TOPAZ system has been run in a operational mode, providing weekly forecasts of ocean currents, ocean temperature and ice conditions in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Presently the model system used to provide forecasts covers the North Atlantic, Nordic and Arctic seas. It is based on the HYCOM ocean model and includes a sea-ice model. The TOPAZ system assimilates sea surface heights, surface temperature and sea ice concentrations on a weekly basis using the Ensemble Kalman Filter. Updates on board are made available once per day. Following parameters are provided: Sea ice drift, sea ice concentration, sea ice thickness for the next 5 days. For more information please see http://marine.copernicus.eu/. |
(Normally: Always active) | Drift Noise GmbH (support@driftnoise.com) | Drift Noise GmbH (support@driftnoise.com) |
Currently not provided due to expiration of productIf you have any remarks or questions regarding this page or updates on information please contact o2a-support@awi.de.
