Climate Exchange

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ransport

and

nfrastructure

In November 2012, Weathernews will witness the launch of

WNISAT-1 to increase the data available to the GIC at a reason-

able cost. This will be the first of several compact and inexpensive

satellites with a 5-10 year lifespan that will provide real-time moni-

toring data on ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean. Eventually, the

accumulated data will allow for the prediction of ice distribution,

thickness and movement using our simulation model, the I-SEE

Engine. Only by predicting the seasonal ice extent in the Arctic can

the shipping industry make the necessary long-term planning for

total optimization of voyage operations that will significantly reduce

carbon emissions.

Evolved weather routing for fuel efficient voyages

Traditionally, weather routing services have been used by the shipping

industry to ensure the safe arrival of a vessel and its crew and cargo.

However, as a natural by-product of sailing the safest route through fair

weather, a vessel also often benefits from increased engine efficiency

and fuel savings. Over the course of three decades at Weathernews,

this core service has evolved into a service for optimizing voyage fuel

efficiency. The primary merit of these services for the shipping industry

is reduced operating costs through safer and shorter voyages. However,

pressure from the International Maritime Organization on the shipping

industry to reduce emissions has made the industry realize that the ‘eco’

in ecology is really the same ‘eco’ as in economy. The next stage in the

evolution of optimized voyage planning is to offer the Polar Route as

an alternative to the longer traditional trade routes, in order to help the

shipping industry meet its eco-targets.

Global Ice Center: using existing resources

At Weathernews, our tradition is always to first ask what we can do

to help this issue. How can we help our partners in the shipping

industry optimize their operations and reduce carbon emissions

from ship engine exhaust? The answer was to establish the GIC in

2008 at Weathernews Global Center in Japan with help from the

Center for Environmental Remote Sensing at Chiba University. The

role of the GIC is collection, analysis and distribution of all relevant

information from related organizations on global ice conditions that

can be used not only by our customers in the shipping industry, but

also by the general public through the GIC website.

One of the GIC’s special contributions is a two-week

forecast of changes in ice concentration, thickness and

distribution. This forecast is produced using simula-

tion model output from the GIC’s I-SEE Engine, which

analyzes factors like sea temperature, current, and

sea-ice observations. Although a voyage through the

Arctic Ocean takes about a month, the I-SEE Engine’s

predictions are enough to assist operators in planning

and making a final go/no-go decision for polar transit

voyages. Last summer, the GIC assisted in the safe

passage of a Japanese-owned/Danish-operated bulk

carrier’s voyage from Murmansk to Jintang through

the Polar Route. Thanks to the combined efforts of the

owner, operator, a pair of Russian ice-breakers and real-

time navigation support from Weathernews, the vessel

completed the icy voyage without incident in only 22

days; half the time it would have taken through the Suez

Canal, or a third of the days at sea sailing around the

Cape of Good Hope.

WNISAT-1: Cost effective-monitoring

Hiro Ishibashi’s shared dream for Weathernews service

will be realized in November 2012 with the launch

of a satellite designed and built by Weathernews in

conjunction with Axel Space, a small domestic start-

up founded by Tokyo University graduates. Data from

the satellite will monitor and eventually help predict

conditions in the Arctic necessary to providing Polar

routing to the shipping industry. Unlike tradition-

ally large and expensive satellites designed to fulfil a

number of roles, WNISAT-1 is a nano-satellite only

27 cm wide and weighing less than 10 kilograms.

Equipped with only a camera for observing sea-ice and

laser for measuring CO

levels, WNISAT-1 represents

the new generation of modern satellites developed

for highly-focused applications. These two measur-

ing instruments provide just enough functionality

to facilitate the GIC’s monitoring infrastructure for a

Polar routing service. Moreover, the goal was to add

this functionality at a reasonable development, deploy-

ment and operating cost so as to provide services

cost-effective enough to encourage widespread use in

the shipping industry, as well as being accessible to the

general public to raise awareness of the issue.

Raising awareness to reduce energy consumption

Weathernews also hopes to use the satellite to

conduct public science experiments where ordinary

people can participate in CO

monitoring to help raise

awareness and inspire everyone, as Weathernews has

done, to ask: “What can we do to help the issue?”

Japan is one of the world’s biggest consumers of

electricity, and the many bright lights of the Tokyo

metropolitan area can easily be spotted from Earth

orbit. It is our hope that raising awareness will allow

Japan to make an even more substantial contribu-

tion to the reduction of CO

emissions, not only in

the global shipping industry, but in Japan’s domestic

energy industry as well.

Source: Weathernews

The WNISAT-1 nano-satellite has a laser for measuring CO

levels