Shipborne sea-ice field mapping using a LiDAR

The increasing interest for autonomous ships has motivated research in numerous areas. One such area is the safe navigation through ice infested waters, for which a sensor instrumentation and automated process are proposed for near-field, sea-ice 3D scanning and mapping using a ship mounted LiDAR, with attitude compensation from inertial and satellite positioning sensors. Data were collected both at the Aalto Ice Tank laboratory and on board the icebreaker S.A. Agulhas II during its voyage to the Antarctic waters. The implemented process enables automated acquisition of detailed 3D point cloud maps, containing highly valuable information for icy waters going ships currently operated by a human crew and, in the near future, supporting the development of autonomous ships. Compared to other methods using satellite, aerial or underwater data, the proposed method is a more cost-effective and easy to integrate solution into current and future icy waters going ships, thus enabling a higher level of situational awareness.