The Sea of Azov is covered with ice: satellite monitoring data. How the Sea of Azov freezes
Port "Caucasus", Chushka spit, Kerch Strait, Temryuk district Krasnodar region Russian Federation (photo of the Mi-helicopter crew commander 8 M. S. Zhurbe) B winter period 2011 –2012 gg. Abnormally heavy ice conditions have formed in the Sea of Azov, reports the Center for Ice Hydrometeorological Information of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) of Roshydromet. “The entire water area was occupied by extensive fast ice with an ice thickness of up to 55 cm and continuous ruffled drifting ice with a predominance of first-year thin ice (thickness 30 –70 cm). Lack of reliable long-term forecast ice conditions and insufficient attention of shipowners to monitoring data ice cover during its formation led to the fact that 17 February 2012 in Russian ports Sea of Azov were locked 65 ships, and in the central part of the sea - 20 ships. Most of these ships, due to ice restrictions, could not move even when accompanied by icebreakers.
At the entrance to the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea 93 The vessels were awaiting icebreaker assistance. Of these only 40 ships had the appropriate ice class.
Rosmorrechflot turned to AARI with a request to take part in supporting operations to remove vessels in difficult situations. In accordance with this request, AARI specialists began to receive and process satellite images ice cover of the Sea of Azov, drawing up overview ice maps, conducting aerial ice reconnaissance and developing navigation recommendations for icebreaker support of ships caught in ice captivity.
Such severe ice conditions in the Sea of Azov occur extremely rarely and last time noted in 1965 G.
Today, according to information from the Situation Center, the following situation is observed in the Azov and Black Seas:
Sea of Azov
Precipitation in the form of snow and rain, with heavy precipitation in places. At night and in the morning there is fog, ice, sticking wet snow.
Wind northeast 6 -11 m/s, gusts up to 14 m/s. Air temperature at night 2 ...-3 °C, during the day 1 ...6 °C. There is ice in the sea, during the day there is movement, hummocking, compression and drift of ice.
Black Sea
In some places, precipitation is in the form of snow and rain, in the Anapa-Tuapse area there is heavy precipitation; accumulation of wet snow, ice. Wind northeast 12 -14 m/s, gusts up to 17 m/s, in Novorossiysk at night and in the morning until 23 m/s. Air temperature at night - 1 ...5 °C, during the day 0 ...7 °C; in the Sochi area at night 4 ...9 °C, during the day 9 ...14 °C. Wave height 0,5 -1,0 m, in some places up to 1,5 m, during the day in the Sochi area until 1,8 m. In the Dzhubga-Sochi area there is a swell from the southwest.
February 4, 2014 - after a long break caused by unfavorable conditions for space photography - the Research Center for Space Hydrometeorology "Planet" (RF) has published new maps of ice conditions in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait:
On February 5, 2014, icebreaker assistance was resumed in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, which had not been carried out since January 26 to leave the ports of the Azov Sea due to low level water in ports and Taganrog Bay, entry - by weather conditions in the central and southern part of the Sea of Azov.
A Ukrainian icebreaker arriving from Mariupol and a Russian one are conducting patrols in the Kerch Strait.
The icebreaker Captain Demidov began escorting a caravan of 18 vessels consisting of:
to Rostov-on-Don:
1. VF Tanker-18
2. Borealis
3. Mech.Paramonov
4. Crystal
5. Mode
6. Cardelin
7. VF Tanker-12
8. Sanar-2;
9. NATALIE 1
10. SORMOVO 116
11. VOLGO DON 203
12. YARN
13. AMUR 2515
14. VF TANKER 5
to Taganrog
15. VF Tanker-4
16. Gloria
17. SVL Liberty
18. Olympia
At the same time, the icebreaker is escorting through the Kerch Strait to the port of Kavkaz:
1. Amur-2517
2. SVL Pride
3. Hero of Russia Pyatnitsky
Russian icebreakers and operate in the Taganrog Bay. They escort a caravan to the exit from the Sea of Azov, consisting of 30 vessels:
from Rostov:
1. VF Tanker-6
2. VF Tanker-7
3. Sanar-1
4. Cap.Abakumov
5. Sanar-3
6. Optimaflot
7. A. Kadyrov
8. Orel-4
9. V-B-216
10. Tyumen-1
11. Neonila
12. Karel
13. Araz River
14. Chalna
15. V-D-235
16. Volzhsky-49;
From Azov:
1. OMSKY 207
2. OMSKY-102
3. RAPID
4. VF TANKER 15
5. NICK PSOMIADI
6. BERRA JI
7. ARVIN
8. RIROIL 2
9. RUSICH-3
10. SAILPRIDE
11. BROTHERS-2;
From Taganrog:
1. Fur. Erokhin
2. Cap. I. Vikulov
3. Volga-4002..
The ice layer in the Sea of Azov is about 10 cm, but east wind carries ice into the waters of the ports from the Taganrog Bay, the thickness of the hummocks reaches 40 cm.
Due to the ice situation in the Sea of Azov, the work of the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk is complicated. This led to the redirection of a large number of railway cars with cargo to the ports of the Black Sea and to the Kerch port, the port’s press service reports.
KAPITAN BELOUSOV: Vessel type: Icebreaker. Year of construction: 1953. Gross Tonnage: 3333, Vessel tonnage: 1446 t. Flag: Ukraine. IMO: 5181598
Builder: Holstrom Histalahti, Värtsilä, Helsinki (Finland). Launched on December 15, 1953. Since 1954 in the Murmansk Shipping Company. Subsequently transferred to the Azov Shipping Company, and in 2004 - to the Mariupol Sea Commercial Port.
Diesel-electric ship. Displacement 5360 t, length 83.16 m, beam 19.4 m, depth 9.5 m, draft 7 m, power power plant 12,000 hp, speed 16.5 knots, 4 propellers (2 each in the bow and stern), cruising range 8,760 miles, cruising endurance 28 days. Crew 56 people. In 2009, the Mariupol Commercial Port carried out a renovation of the icebreaker, during which 6 new Caterpillar diesel generators were installed.
KAPITAN DEMIDOV: Type of vessel: River-sea icebreaking vessel of the "Captain Evdokimov" type, project 1191. Year of construction: 1984. Builder: Wartsila Helsinki Shipyard. Length and width: 77 m X 17 m. Draft: 2.8 m. Gross Tonnage: 1791, Tonnage: 372 t. Recorded Speed (Max/Avg): 12.9 / 8.3 knots. Flag: Russia. Call sign: UEVK. IMO: 8027286, MMSI: 273332600
KAPITAN MOSHKIN: Vessel type: Tug/ice breaker. River-sea icebreaking vessel of the “Captain Evdokimov” type, project 1191. Year of construction: 1986.
Builder: Wartsila Helsinki Shipyard. Length and width: 77 m X 16 m. Gross Tonnage: 1791, Vessel Tonnage: 824 t. Recorded speed (Max/Avg): 9.9 / 9.9 knots. Flag: Russia. Call sign: UIFR. IMO: 8410160, MMSI: 273420570
KAPITAN CHUDINOV: Vessel type: River-sea icebreaking vessel of the “Captain Evdokimov” type, project 1191.
Year of construction: 1983. Builder: Wartsila Helsinki Shipyard. Length and width: 76 m X 16 m. Draft: 2.8 m. Gross Tonnage: 1791, Vessel Tonnage: 400 t. Recorded Speed (Max/Avg): 12.6 / 8.8 knots.
Flag: Russia. Call sign: UFVI. IMO: 8027248, MMSI: 273458320
Data from the Ice Operations Headquarters of the Taganrog Seaport was used
BSNews when preparing materials
project “Today in the ports of the Black and Azov Seas”
data is used
www.marinetraffic.com, www.shipspotting.com
Abbreviation (mv) or (LT) = local time
Wind at night from west, southwest 12-17 m/s; during the day northwest, north 5-10 m/s. Light rain in places. There is haze in places at night and in the morning. Visibility 2-4 km.
In the sea there is ice, movement, hummocking, compression, ice drift. In the southeast of the sea, the wave height at night is 7-12 dm, during the day 5-10 dm.
Air temperature at night -1...+4°, during the day +4...+9°.
March 25 wind northeast, southwest in the afternoon 6-11 m/s, gusts 14 m/s in the middle of the day. No significant precipitation. At night and in the morning there is haze with visibility of 1-2 km.
In the sea there is ice, movement, hummocking, compression, ice drift. In the south of the sea the wave height is 7-12 dm. Air temperature at night -1...+4°, during the day +5...+10°.
March 26 wind south-west, in the afternoon north-west 12-14 m/s. No significant precipitation at night, rain in places in the morning and afternoon. Haze. Visibility 1-2 km.
In the sea there is ice, movement, hummocking, compression, ice drift. In the south of the sea the wave height is 7-12 dm. Air temperature at night and during the day +2…+7°.
Ice forecast
In the Sea of Azov, since March 18, after the air temperature increased to +5...+10°, the processes of melting and destruction of ice have intensified.
Fast ice thickness: in Taganrog 38 cm, destruction 3 points. Fast ice remains in Strelkovoye, Genichesk, Dolzhenskaya-Sea with a destruction level of 3-4 points.
In the western part of the Taganrog Bay, fast ice has broken, fields and debris are observed white ice cohesion 9-10 points. In the eastern part of the Taganrog Bay, fast ice with a destruction level of 3 points.
Under the influence of the winds of the western quarter, a mass of drifting ice is pressed to east coast seas. In the western part of this massif there is intensive destruction and melting of ice. In the eastern part, ice with a concentration of 9-10 points predominates, mostly gray-white, the degree of destruction of which ranges from 1 to 3 points.
In the west of the sea in an array of 10-point low-moving ice, thin annual and gray-white, polynyas and clearings appeared. On the eastern edge of this ice, under the influence of winds in the western, northwestern directions, extensive fields of ice break off, which are carried out into the open part of the sea, where they collapse and drift to the south and southeast.
There is no ice in the Kerch area. In the Kerch Strait, on the approach from the north, there is a narrow bridge of ice with a concentration of 4-6 points.
In the coming week, winds from the western and northwestern quarters are expected to prevail in the Sea of Azov. Air temperature: at night -2...+3° C, during the day +6...+10° C.
The processes of melting and fragmentation of drifting ice, as well as the destruction of fast ice, will continue. The fast ice in Genichesk and Strelkovoy will collapse.
Ice masses with a concentration of 9-10 points and destruction of 2-3 points will remain west of the meridian 35°30"E and east of 37°30"E.
It will carry ice out of the Berdyansk Bay. Polynyas will develop along the northern coast.
In the central part of the sea, separate ice zones of varying concentrations will be observed. Individual ice floes may appear on the northern approach to the Kerch Strait.
L. Pietranera, L. Cesarano, Yu. I. Kantemirov
As you know, in the winter of 2012, the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait froze. Large quantity The ships were locked in the ice of the Sea of Azov. Many gathered at the entrance to the frozen Kerch Strait. This emergency and other similar situations require prompt and regular receipt of information about the developing ice situation, the position of ships, the progress of icebreaking operations, etc. Operator of a constellation of all-weather and light-independent radar satellites COSMO-SkyMed (E-GEOS, Italy) at the request of the company Sovzond quickly responded to the situation. The COSMO-SkyMed group carried out operational surveys of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait. Specialists from the Sovzond and E-GEOS companies interpreted the surveys taken, the results of which are given below.
To demonstrate the capabilities of monitoring ice conditions and shipping, a total of 17 surveys were carried out in ScanSAR Wide Region (30 m resolution, 100 x 100 km scene) and HImage (3 m resolution, 40 x 40 km scene) modes. Based on medium-resolution surveys, a preliminary overview analysis of the ice situation and identification of ships was carried out - both at the entrance to the Kerch Strait and in the frozen waters of the Sea of Azov. Shooting in the detailed HImage mode was targeted based on the results of the analysis of data from the overview shooting mode. The outlines of the scenes of the completed shootings are shown in Fig. 1.
Rice. 1. Area of the Kerch Bay and the southern part of the Azov Sea. Outlines of COSMO-SkyMed scenes filmed in February 2012.
Ice conditions and navigation on a survey scale are illustrated, for example, by two surveys from February 11 and 17, 2012 (Fig. 2 and 3), as well as a multi-time composite compiled from these two surveys (Fig. 4).
Rice. 2. Shooting COSMO-SkyMed Wide Region from February 11
Rice. 3. Shooting COSMO-SkyMed Wide Region from February 17
Rice. 4. Amplitude multi-time composite, compiled from filming on February 11 and 17
Red channel - shooting from February 11, green and blue channels - from February 17. The amplitude composite shows, for example, the tracks of ships in the frozen waters of the Sea of Azov (Fig. 5), stable and horizontally moving ice masses of the frozen waters (Fig. 6), ships accumulated at the entrance to the Kerch Strait as of February 11 and 17 ( Fig. 7).
Rice. 5. Fragment of the amplitude composite
White arrows point to a thin red line (predominance of the red channel), displaying the trace of a ship's drift or icebreaker assistance in the ice as of February 11, and to a blue line (a combination of blue and green channels), displaying the trace of a ship in the ice for the period from 11 until February 17
Rice. 6. An example of identifying the speed of horizontal movements of ice masses for the period from February 11 to February 17
The arrows show the directions of movement of ice masses within the dynamic area of the frozen water area. In the western part of the image, a red rectangle outlines an area of stable (not moving) ice.
Rice. 7. Fragment of a multi-time amplitude composite
Ships awaiting passage through the frozen Kerch Strait. White bright dots are ships standing in the same place on February 11 and 17. Red dots are ships that were present in the image of February 11, but were absent in the image of February 17. Blue dots are ships that were absent on February 11 and appeared on February 17.
Having identified ships stuck in ice in the southern part of the Sea of Azov on medium-resolution radar images (30 m), Sovzond specialists quickly planned a new high-resolution COSMO-SkyMed radar survey (3 m). One of the high-resolution radar images is shown in Fig. 8, its fragment close up- in Fig. 9, the interpretation of this fragment is in Fig. 10.
Rice. 8. COSMO-SkyMed image 40 x 40 km with a resolution of 3 m of the southern part of the Azov SeaThe red circle outlines the location of ships stuck in the ice.
Rice. 9. Fragment of a COSMO-SkyMed image with a resolution of 3 m from February 18
Increase in the location of ships in the frozen waters of the Azov Sea
Rice. 10. Interpretation of the COSMO-SkyMed image from February 18
Thus, based on the given examples of the use of radar satellite images to solve the problems of operational all-weather, light-independent monitoring of ice conditions and shipping, it is possible to formulate a list of problems solved in this area using radar data:
- Construction of maps of horizontal movements of ice massifs.
- Construction of ice thickness maps (at the research stage).
- Construction of maps of ice types.
- Separation of old and young ice.
- Monitoring of shipping, including identifying ships stuck in ice.
- Targeting and monitoring of icebreaker assistance.
All these results can be delivered to the customer in the form of a web interface through a password-protected Internet portal. The technically possible frequency of monitoring surveys is up to several times a day.
Port "Caucasus", Chushka Spit, Kerch Strait, Temryuk district of the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation (photo by the commander of the Mi helicopter crew 8 M. S. Zhurbe) In winter 2011 –2012 gg. Abnormally heavy ice conditions have formed in the Sea of Azov, reports the Center for Ice Hydrometeorological Information of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) of Roshydromet. “The entire water area was occupied by extensive fast ice with an ice thickness of up to 55 cm and continuous ruffled drifting ice with a predominance of first-year thin ice (thickness 30 –70 cm). The lack of a reliable long-term forecast of ice conditions and insufficient attention of shipowners to monitoring data of the ice cover during its formation led to the fact that 17 February 2012 were locked in the Russian ports of the Azov Sea 65 ships, and in the central part of the sea - 20 ships. Most of these ships, due to ice restrictions, could not move even when accompanied by icebreakers.
At the entrance to the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea 93 The vessels were awaiting icebreaker assistance. Of these only 40 ships had the appropriate ice class.
Rosmorrechflot turned to AARI with a request to take part in supporting operations to remove vessels in difficult situations. In accordance with this request, AARI specialists began receiving and processing satellite images of the ice cover of the Sea of Azov, compiling overview ice maps, conducting aerial ice reconnaissance and developing navigation recommendations for icebreaker support of ships caught in ice captivity.
Such severe ice conditions in the Sea of Azov occur extremely rarely and were last noted in 1965 G.
Today, according to information from the Situation Center, the following situation is observed in the Azov and Black Seas:
Sea of Azov
Precipitation in the form of snow and rain, with heavy precipitation in places. At night and in the morning there is fog, ice, and accumulation of wet snow.
Wind northeast 6 -11 m/s, gusts up to 14 m/s. Air temperature at night 2 ...-3 °C, during the day 1 ...6 °C. There is ice in the sea, during the day there is movement, hummocking, compression and drift of ice.
Black Sea
In some places, precipitation is in the form of snow and rain, in the Anapa-Tuapse area there is heavy precipitation; accumulation of wet snow, ice. Wind northeast 12 -14 m/s, gusts up to 17 m/s, in Novorossiysk at night and in the morning until 23 m/s. Air temperature at night - 1 ...5 °C, during the day 0 ...7 °C; in the Sochi area at night 4 ...9 °C, during the day 9 ...14 °C. Wave height 0,5 -1,0 m, in some places up to 1,5 m, during the day in the Sochi area until 1,8 m. In the Dzhubga-Sochi area there is a swell from the southwest.