FY 2025 A Review of NOAA’s Vessel Spray Prediction System Overland, J.E., and T. Spindler NOAA Tech. Memo. OAR-PMEL 152, NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, doi: 10.25923/7gtg-gf90, View at NOAA's Institutional Repository (2025) Vessel icing accumulation due to freezing spray is a serious marine hazard in high-latitude waters of Alaska, eastern Canada, northern Japan, and extended Scandinavia. The Overland icing algorithm (Overland et al. 1990), one of the algorithms in operational use by the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS), was developed in the 1980s, and it is appropriate to reevaluate its relevance and compare to recent literature reviews. The strength of the Overland algorithm is based on its training data set of 85 observation and in the care take in its initial verification. Most cases come from mid-sized vessels between 35 and 55 m in Alaskan waters. Observations were limited to vessels heading in the wind and wave direction. Reports were verified by interviews of vessel operators and comparison to NWS weather analyses. Icing rates included severe cases, greater than 2.0 cm hr -1 , for 30% of the observations. We conclude that the current algorithm remains valid based on the training data set and recent reviews. It is noted that icing prediction also depends on the quality of 24- to 72-hour meteorological parameter forecasts, and that contemporary observational data sets are needed to further operationally verify the algorithm. Feature Publications | Outstanding Scientific Publications Contact Sandra Bigley | Help
