Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

“SIKU”Sea Ice Mapping System

The DMI Approach

Henrik Steen Andersen

Danish Meteorological Institute

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

Requirements

Production of digital ice charts based on satellite imagery and additional (meteorological) information

Efficient development environment

System must be user friendly, easy to maintain, long lifetime.

Exchange of data

System will also be used to R&D

Integration of raster and vector GIS functionality, efficient and flexible data presentation.

Software libraries, macro language,COTS.

External support, documentation, large user base.

Standard formats

An efficient toolbox.

Demands Solution

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

Workflow

Data processing

Product distribution

Production of Ice analysis

Data reception DMI Ground Stationsand via Internet

DMI Production softwareRADARSAT, NOAA

and DMSP data

DMI distributionsystem

ERDAS, import, interpretationArc/INFO, topology and QC

ArcView, Graphical environmentPresentationProduction of Ice chart

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

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Data Input

RADARSAT

NOAADMSP

Ice Charts

Maps

SIKUHIRLAM

Ice driftmodel

ENVISATRADARSAT 2

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

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Data Input

Observations

Recognisance

NOAA AVHRR

RADARSAT

DMSP SSM/I

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

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Current Status

• Hardware– SGI O2 Front end, two screens.– Connected to DMI operational production system

• OS– UNIX (front end and production)

• Software– DMI software, satellite data ingest and production– ERDAS Imagine, version 8.3– Arc/INFO, version 8.1– ArcView, version 3.3

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

ERDAS is used for..

Data presentation and digitizationVisual interpretation

Line and point symbols

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

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ERDAS is used for..

Enter attributes in SIGRID format

Topology check

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

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ArcView is used for..

Ice Chart printExport

Text and grid

Ice Eggs

Conversion fromSIGRID to WMO codes

An Ice Chart is basedOn an Ice Analysis

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

ArcView is used for..

RADARSAT Data Browser

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

ArcView is used for..

Presentation of Forecasts

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

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The Products

Regional - Weekly Navigational Ice Charts

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

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What’s New ?

• The current version of SIKU has been working operationally since 1999

• The front end hardware is from 1998

• Only minor changes have been made since

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

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Are the Ice Analysts Happy ?

• The ice analysts find SIKU satisfactory– The system is stable– The workflow is logical– Normally the system is not the limiting factor– We are getting the job done

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

Are the Ice Analysts Happy ?

• On the other hand ..– Basic functionality should be improved

• Easier selection of lines and symbols• A better way to enter area attributes• Optimize the digitization process

– Faster hardware would be nice– Add new information layers

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

Maintenance and Development

• The struggle between new ideas and resources– The system is customizable – The knowledge is available– We have plenty of new ideas– BUT human and economic resources are limited

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

Next Generation..

Ice chart

Wind speed& direction

Pressure

Wave direction& height

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

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Next Generation..

• Trends..– ESRI software development strategy makes

WINDOWS mandatory – ArcGIS may contain all necessary elements – ERDAS may only be used for R&D– Normally it is easier to buy software including

support than to pay contractors

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

Next Generation..

• Advantages..– ArcGIS provides very flexible customization tools– ArcGIS is scalable – Support and maintenance are simpler – Hardware is cheaper– It is a very interesting job to convert from Avenue

to VBA– Other Ice Services use ESRI software

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

Next Generation..

• Questions..– Do ArcGIS provide the efficient image

presentation environment that we need ?– Will it be possible for DMI to maintain and further

develop the software ?– Can DMI benefit from the development in the

other ice services ?– Is it possible to exchange / buy customized

modules ?

Danish Meteorological Institute, Ice Charting and Remote Sensing

Division

The Way Forward..

• DMI most upgrade HW / SW within 1-2 years.

• Major DMI development efforts must be financed by external sources.

• Customized (front end) modules based on COTS could be a very interesting alternative.

• DMI possess the necessary technical skills to maintain the software and implement interfaces