Mikkel H Bojesen

Maritime activity across the Arctic is increasing alongside an increased economic activity and geopolitical awareness in the region. In this context, supporting safety at sea, safeguarding national sovereignty, and offering logistical support to the civil society, efficient naval and first responding capacities are being important as ever before across Arctic societies. But arctic maritime operations, are associated with high level of navigational risk due to missing or inaccurate nautical information and vast areas are still left uncharted. Consequently, each year the harsh Arctic environment claims its victims. In situations of distress, first responders must very often search enormous areas with little opportunity for efficiently identifying the exact location of those in need, since means of communication is very limited, outside the populated areas. In this presentation we showcase examples of how co-production between navies and industry research can bring about satellite-based decision support for both efficient object identification and navigational risk-minimization in terms of mapping of submerged rocks, intertidal zones and precise delineation of coast lines. This data production relies on recent developments within application of multi-temporal bathymetric retrieval models and high resolution Synthetic Aparture Radar (SAR) imagery. Demonstration work in Greenland is presented together with a discussion on future applications across the Arctic.