The detection of ice pressure in the Gulf of St. Lawrence using acoustics

Winter navigation through the Gulf of St. Lawrence is affected by the severity of ice conditions. Commercial ships that normally can push their way through ice floes, can become beset within the pack ice when the pack ice compacts and pressure events occur. The ability to forecast the duration and spatial extent of pressure events would greatly benefit navigation through the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A field study was initiated in 1997 to determine if ice acoustics could be used as a tool to detect ice pressure events, and possibly relate the signal to ice pressure measurements and atmospheric and oceanographic parameters in order to forecast their occurrences. Results so far indicate that ice acoustics can indeed monitor floe cracking events when the Gulf pack ice is under pressure