Using NOAA Satellite Imagery to Detect and Track Hazardous Sea Spray in the High Latitudes

Abstract

Sea spray presents a significant hazard to vessels in the high latitudes. At issue is the accumulation of ice, which can destabilize, and at times, sink a ship. Many studies have focused on icing prediction systems, but a knowledge gap exists in the detection of sea spray using remote sensing data. The recent availability of data from new and advanced imagers on board NOAA satellites, specifically the GOES-R series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and JPSS Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), offers new tools for the detection and tracking of sea spray for forecasters. While ABI provides superior temporal coverage in order to capture the near-real-time evolution of sea spray, VIIRS contributes higher spatial detail, allowing for improved analysis of sea spray extent, particularly within smaller bodies of water. Forecasters can implement these detection techniques to help verify sea spray–related forecast products, and to pass along potentially life-saving information to their mariner core partners. This paper discusses the freezing sea spray hazard, and introduces newly identified methods for detecting and tracking sea spray using NOAA satellite data.