Известия ТИНРО (Dec 2014)
Satellite traceology: experience of using in the interests of mammalogy for protection of ice-associated marine mammals
Abstract
Advanced technology of satellite traceology is presented on the base of using the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with high space and deep resolution installed for the first time onboard Soviet space station Almaz and now functioning successfully onboard the satellites Envisat and RADARSAT. The SAR traceology is the central issue of the satellite eco-criminology and concerns to theory of the traces formation, variability, and preservation in undamaged state. Ships coordinates, their traces and complexity of ice routing are fixed by the method of satellite charting, and their possible influence on ice-associated marine mammals is assessed. Numerous examples of SAR satellite control on navigation in stormy weather and ships’ presence in ice with different compactness, origin and age are overviewed, as well as impact of travel facilities on ice-associated animals welfare. Some incidents potentially dangerous for marine mammals are considered for the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea). Parameters of the ice cover, as openings, large fractures, and polynyas made by icebreakers in this area were determined on the base of the satellite SAR data, comprehensive digital ice maps with scheme of real ships’ routes in the ice were prepared, and the routes correspondence with ESIMO demands was assessed. The satellite SAR survey in the Kandalaksha Bay (White Sea) allowed to fix that winter navigation in the White Sea provoked formation of fractures and polynyas and reduced the sea ice area suitable for reproduction of greenland seals. For validation of this situation, airborne control was organized aboard the aircraft L-410 «Nord» that provided panoramic and IR images of ship channel through the rookeries of the seals in time of their reproduction. Besides, the aircraft made observations of pacific walruses behavior in the Bering Sea which were superposed with the satellite SAR and passive microwave survey in frame of the project «Pacific Walrus». Traceological control of the sea ice in the Anadyr Bay (Bering Sea) allowed to determine the size of openings in the ice and to assess the influence of tide and wind on welfare of ice-associated marine mammals. Some cases of infringement the regulation of navigation were revealed by means of the satellite SAR traceology.
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