Back to Search Start Over

Finding safe and efficient shipping routes in ice-covered waters: A framework and a model

Authors :
Floris Goerlandt
Robert Guinness
Mikko Lensu
Jakub Montewka
Ville V. Lehtola
Department of Earth Observation Science
UT-I-ITC-ACQUAL
Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation
Source :
Cold Regions Science and Technology, 165:102795, 1-14. Elsevier
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

Safety for conventional and autonomous navigation in ice-covered waters is a topic of rising importance. Here, we propose a generic extendable framework to provide the optimal route from multiple route planning objectives. These objectives are attained by an evaluation of multi-source input data, including state-of-the-art model data for ice conditions, for bathymetric knowledge, and for ship-ice interaction. Additionally, we model the ship-ship interactions statistically using a mean-field, to account for ships (indirectly) assisting each other via artificial ice channels. For the subsequent pathfinding problem, we propose a new A*-based algorithm that yields output which is not dependent on the grid format of the input data but instead consists of a path that follows the Earth's curvature. The outputs of the algorithm are a set of waypoints (representing the optimal route), the travel costs (expressed in time), and the additional travel cost estimates caused by route deviation, should the optimal route be altered in any way. The steaming speeds, the optimal route, and the deviation times are represented with two-dimensional (2D) maps. Finally, we provide a model implementation of our framework as a Matlab-package, ICEPATHFINDER, that is suitable for both operational and strategic ship route optimization.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0165232X
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Cold Regions Science and Technology, 165:102795, 1-14. Elsevier
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....8190261bf5d6dfbc2376f9c47cf17549