Environmental guide for maritime operations in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Part I, Unclassified environmental guide.

Abstract

This guide provides acousticians and tacticians with information on the environmental parameters which affect maritime operations performance and procedures in the shallow waters of the Arctic Archipelago. Particular attention is given to the access and potential underwater transit routes such as Nares Strait, Jones Sound Baffin Bay, the Northwest Passage and the Beaufort Sea. The parameters of interest include bottom features, physical oceanography, meteorology, ambient noise and the acoustics of the ice-water interface. Each parameter is presented in terms of quantity, quality, variability and impact on ASW. Most of the discussion uses an unclassified format and a classified portion is used for more sensitive data.

The data presented in this guide also provide the foundation for the Arctic Archipelago segment of a PC based geographic information system (GIS) which is developed by Earth and Ocean Research Limited, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.