Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 11.2
Photograph of the HMCS
Labrador
, which later became Canadian Coast Guard (CCG)
Labrador
icebreaker.
ice‐covered sea routes had to continue. At the same time
commercial shipping in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the
Labrador Sea, and the Hudson Bay during winter was
increasing, which demanded continuing ice forecast ser-
vice. Due to lack of effective long‐range communication
systems to relay ice information between the IFC and the
operating ships, three field forecast units were established
in the Arctic region to provide necessary ice information
to ships during the summer Arctic navigation season.
They were located close to the shipping routes at Frobisher
Bay (later named Iqaluit), Churchill (on the west shore
of Hudson Bay), and the Cambridge Bay (located on
Victoria Island in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut,
Canada). The IFC served as the coordinating center to
which regional ice information was sent and integrated to
generate a daily ice conditions chart.
On 22 November 1957 the RCN transferred the oper-
ation of HMCS
Labrador
to the civilian control of
the DOT. The ship was redesignated the Canadian
Government Ship (CGS)
Labrador
. When the Canadian
Coast Guard (CCG) was formed in 1962 (under the
DOT) the ship was further redesignated CCG
Labrador
.
In 1958 the RCN handed the entire operation of the IFC
to the Meteorological Branch of the DOT. As the demand
for the rescue operations by CCG icebreakers increased
in the late 1960s the need for more diverse ice forecast
services intensified. It was decided that the IFC would
move to Ottawa where it could communicate easier with
the CCG headquarters. The move took place in November
1971 and a new name was given to the IFC, the Ice Center.
At the same time, the Meteorological Branch of the DOT,
under which the center operated, also moved to another
federal department, the Department of Environment
(DOE) and was renamed the Atmospheric Environment
Service (AES). So, in 1971 the Ice Centre came under the
jurisdiction of the AES.
The mandate of the Ice Centre continued to expand to
provide a constant stream of information on sea ice con-
ditions during the winter and summer in certain areas.
The suite of clients also expanded to include industries of
offshore exploration, fisheries, meteorological needs, har-
bor and coastal activities, in addition to traditional ship-
ping missions. In response to the increasing workload
and the accumulated data of sea ice, the Ice Centre also
expanded and had to be relocated to a more spacious site,
also in Ottawa, in 1982. Coinciding with the move, three
divisions mandated with different functions were created:
(1) Ice Forecasting Central, which continued the same
mission of the IFC since 1958, (2) Ice Climatology and
Applications to utilize the growing accumulation of ice
data (aerial, ship, and satellite information), standardize
the data format, and generate climatic charts based on the
standardization, and (3) Ice Research, which was led by
Dr. Rene Ramseier to focus on developing remote sensing
tools, particularly infrared and passive microwave sensors,
to advance the data acquisition of sea ice. A photograph
of Ice Centre staff in May 1982 is shown in Figure 11.3.
The new Ice Centre in Ottawa together with two other
divisions, the Ice Reconnaissance and Ice Engineering
Division, both located in Toronto, made up what was known
as the Canadian Ice Branch of Environment Canada (or Ice
Branch for short). The Ice Engineering Division was created
to manage technical and maintenance issues involving the
operations of the ice reconnaissance aircrafts and the
