Currently, iceberg risk mitigation at production facilities in shallower waters (80 to 120 m) on the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador is accomplished using iceberg surveillance, towing, water cannons and, in the case of floating facilities, disconnection. Future developments in deeper waters such as the Flemish Pass or the Orphan Basin may be able to utilize compliant mooring and riser systems to allow a floating facility to simply move out of the path of an approaching iceberg without disconnecting. The analysis described here shows that, using simple extrapolation of the observed iceberg trajectory, the risk mitigation provided by facility side-tracking is comparable to existing physical management techniques (iceberg towing and water cannons). Improved short-term iceberg drift forecasting would allow further risk mitigation.

In 2016 Nalcor Energy installed subsea cables across the Strait of Belle Isle, which comprises part of the Lower Churchill Transmission Project linking Muskrat Falls, Labrador, and Soldier's Pond, Newfoundland. The cable crossing site is southwest of a shoal which filters out deeper draft icebergs which could potentially contact and damage the cable. An initial study in 2011 was followed by iceberg tracking and current monitoring programs at the cable crossing site and a final study incorporating these data 2015-2016. This paper describes the application of a drift-based Monte Carlo model to assess iceberg risk to cables laid on the seabed in the Strait of Belle Isle. The model considers the effect of iceberg rolling which could potentially result in icebergs increasing draft and contacting cables laid on the seabed. Modeled iceberg drift was based on field observations, and measured and modeled currents. Based on results from the 2011 analysis it was decided to use directional drilling to route the initial portions of the cable from shore to break-put locations on the seabed in water depths in excess of 70 m. Rock dumping is used to stabilize the cables on the seabed at deeper water depths. Due to the extreme difficulties in trenching the very strong seabed or tunneling across the Strait of Belle Isle, the selected solution offers the most technically feasible and cost-effective solution for cable routing across the Strait of Belle Isle.

Iceberg areal density is one of the most important and challenging parameters to define accurately for offshore petroleum exploration. The two data sources for iceberg areal density considered here are aerial reconnaissance data collected by the International Ice Patrol (IIP) and iceberg charts which merge aerial reconnaissance data with other observations and model output. The IIP operates regular flights to monitor iceberg hazards to transatlantic transportation off the Canadian East Coast. The IIP and Canadian Ice Service (CIS) work together to generate daily ice charts year-round to provide the most reliable and timely information about the iceberg distribution by defining an iceberg limit to minimize risk of iceberg collision to transportation. The purpose of the iceberg charts is to promote safe maritime operations and to inform mariners about the latest ice conditions in navigable Canadian waterways and transatlantic shipping lanes in international waters. With navigational safety as its primary goal, the IIP develops the iceberg limit and distribution for vessels planning to avoid encountering icebergs completely. These warnings therefore are generally more conservative than on-site observations. The daily ice chart is created based on the data provided by various sources and is modified regularly by adding new sightings and applying drift and deterioration models to previous sightings. Among all the sources, aerial reconnaissance provides the most up-to-date information on iceberg conditions, and are generally conducted between February and July. For a better understanding of the influence of the data sources, iceberg frequency values using aerial reconnaissance data and charts were compared for a common period of time for several locations. Comparing the results, it was observed that results from aerial reconnaissance data analysis are typically lower than results from chart data i.e., more icebergs were reported in the ice charts than were sighted by aerial reconnaissance. This is consistent with IlP's conservative approach in reporting iceberg hazards to transatlantic mariners. Using the most appropriate source of data to identify the risk that icebergs pose for offshore petroleum production facilities is essential. The objective of this paper is to assess the discrepancies between data provided through aerial reconnaissance and that included in the daily iceberg charts.

Arctic territory, today, is one of the most prospective territories for oil and gas companies. Development of the Arctic Region completely requires new technological advancement, and thus calls for intense attention and support from experienced institutions and research centers. Following the USGC research made in 2008, more than 80% of perspective Arctic rersources are located in offshore. This inevitably conveys technical and legislative risks that are not experienced onshore or in conventional offshore fields. Technical risks are associated with severe climatic conditions, sensitive ecological situations and lack of field development experience from arctic territories, as legislative risks vary within the arctic countries in question. This present paper consists of two main parts - analysis of technical risks, and legislative risks influence (including taxation system) on field developments in the Russian Barents Sea and Norwegian Barents Sea. In the frame of technical analysis, risk classification system according to different Arctic Sea conditions are presented. Probability for each technical risk was assessed and included in the field development project evaluation. In order to achieve synergetic effect, valuation model of field development with technical risks were then incorporated into economic model, which includes legislative restriction and taxation. These conditions differ from territory to territory; for that matter Russian and Norway.

In ice frequented regions, the potential for large ice floes and extreme ice features encroaching on offshore structures can be significant. An early warning system is desired to discriminate between thin ice of no risk and thick ice with significant challenge. The severity and variability of ice conditions will affect the feasibility of operating in such a region, with significant impact on the design and selection of resources to be used and the ice management requirements to support exploration and development. By measuring the ice thickness, operators can determine the operational risk for ice management operations. In addition, it can help map the areas of thin ice to aid shipping route selection. Despite its fundamental importance, sea ice thickness is one of the most difficult measurements to obtain via remote sensing. Passive remote sensing methods at the near infrared, thermal infrared and visible electromagnetic wavelengths, are restricted due to fog, precipitation, clouds, and Polar darkness. Thus active sensing techniques are deemed to be the only feasible method of measuring ice thickness, especially if they can be mounted in aircraft or satellites. Technical solutions are available to measure the thickness of sea ice, but they do not provide a physical measurement over a wide swath of ice. Thus, the authors are developing a wide swath ice thickness measurement system to fill this gap. The most practical solution for ice thickness measurement is an airborne radar. The authors have completed the preliminary design of a system that will combine an ice penetrating radar with a microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The penetrating radar will be used to glean physical measurements of ice thickness, to be fused with the wide swath SAR to produce an ice thickness map.

Current design standards for ships operating in ice-covered waters involve great deal of uncertainty in the associated risk level. The main reason for this uncertainty is the stochastic nature of ice failure process during ice-structure interaction, which means that the load imposed by ice on structures cannot be accurately defined. Therefore, rule requirements by Classification Societies define the pressure loads on patches of predefined sizes, which cannot accurately represent the real ice-structure interaction process. To partly overcome this limitation, this paper proposes alternative approaches for applying pressure, discusses the relevance of these loading scenarios and compares the resulting structural damage to the one obtained with current design approach.

The Paper will discuss lessons learned from more than 10 years of operational weather and ice support in the Arctic, and show examples of best practice methods of implementing scientific research into operational decision making. Successful examples will be discussed detailing the use of weather and ice information in operational situations at high latitudes, from climatic prestudies to the operational phases and all the way through post-operational lessons learned.

Pipelines in the Arctic must contend with a variety of geotechnical obstacles affecting their construction and long-term operation. For example, thawing permafrost leads to unstable terrain, especially on slopes and pipeline river crossings. Research funded by the US Department of Transportation is underway to investigate how unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) could be used to monitor permafrost and unstable soils in order to develop a proactive decision-support system for pipeline operators. Leading this research is the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in cooperation with the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The research will evaluate a variety of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to determine an optimal technology mix, and best practices for the persistent surveillance of thawing permafrost and shifting soils, thereby providing pipeline operators a broader picture of, and a means of mitigating, the geotechnical hazards that affect pipelines.

In recent years, oil and gas exploration has moved further north into new areas. The oil and gas industry faces new challenges in the Arctic environment, which is very different from what the oil industry has been dealing with before. ‘Low temperatures’ and ‘ice actions’ are only a few of the keywords when it comes to challenges in the harsh Arctic environment. The concept of offshore loading is widely used today; e.g. in the North Sea; however, there is a lack of experience when it comes to offshore loading operations in Cold climate areas like the Barents Sea, which requires additional safety barriers related to the bow loading system. In order to ensure the availability of all components related to the bow loading system during the loading operation, the system has to be winterized according to the physical environmental conditions in the operational area. However, there are always limitations when it comes to financial resources, which makes prioritizing necessary. This calls for a study of critical winterization aspects related to the bow loading system, in order to perform operations in a safe manner. It also calls for the development of a risk-based decision-making tool in the winterization design process, based on approved standards and guidelines.

The hull form and propulsion are essential for a successful ship. During the first 70 years of last century vessels for ice operation were developed mainly with trial and error method. Also when one design was found useful, it was duplicated to the next generation of ships. It was only in the mid 1950ies as the first model basing for developing ships for ice operation in Leningrad, USSR, started to take steps towards more scientific approach. In the late 1960ies after oil had been found in Alaska and the 100000 DWT tanker SS Manhattan had done its first voyage in the Canadian Arctic in 1969, the question rose, whether this could be modeled in smaller scale. SS Manhattan was the actual initialization for developing ice model tests to become a useful tool in modern shipbuilding. Since 1969 the testing methods and practices have changed and developed together with feedback from full-scale ship performance tests to be rather reliable tool to help the decision making process when we are talking about projects worth tens and hundred million dollars. This paper talks about different aspects of icebreaking and steps taken to develop vessels using ice model tests. Both hull form and propulsion development are discussed.

Abstract We present a methodology for tactical route optimization in waters covered by sea ice. The ice conditions are time-dependent and uncertain. This paper proposes a methodology for determining the fastest route through ice covered waters based on a stochastic dynamic programming model. As such, the focus is on the routing element of the methodology rather than on how to predict ice conditions or model ship performance. Preliminary results for a small, but artificial test case from the Bay of Bothnia are presented as well. Introduction The reduced sea ice coverage in the Arctic Ocean has attracted a lot of attention to shipping in Arctic waters. However, sea areas covered with ice can be found all over the world: For example, the Bay of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea freeze every year. In fact, the Baltic Sea might be covered completely by sea ice during an extreme winter. The northern part of the Caspian Sea is prone to sea ice during winter and also Bohai Bay in the Yellow Sea is known for forming sea ice.

Abstract Oil companies are considering large Gravity-Based Structures (GBS) as a potential solution to support operations in new offshore oil and gas field developments in the Arctic seas that are designed for year-round production in potentially 100-meter-deep waters. These structures support multibillion-dollar drilling, production, and storage facilities that are typically commissioned with topsides and consumables before entering the Arctic, and are towed with these elements already installed on the GBS to the installation site. However, the tow not only presents a high risk during the installation phase of the platform, but also has a significant influence on the design and cost of the GBS. Movement of these large offshore structures through the Bering Straits and into position at the installation location includes unique risks that result from the minimal precedence of these tows and the scarcity of local support and contingency ports. This situation suggest that typical approaches to risk identification, design criteria development, and application of risk mitigation approaches may merit reevaluation. This paper will discuss the logistics related to the movement of these large structures and discuss the various cost- and schedule-related risks that have to be identified to support the early design phases of the GBS.

Abstract Seismic, coring, drilling, and supply operations in ice- and iceberg-infested zones require large quantities of environmental and operations related information which should be available quickly and conveniently to the operations and ice advisory personnel. Specialized software is available to support ice advisory work, generate ice charts, and ice and iceberg drift forecasts. Specialized instruments are available for ice hazard tracking and the safe deployment of these instruments by aircraft and UAVs. This paper describes a toolkit that is being developed to bring together currently available systems into one convenient package. This will assist a ship or rig's OIM and officers and ice advisory team members by providing clear displays of the current situations with respect to the location and movements of ice in the proximity of the operations site. The system will improve the response time of forecasts, efficiency of work and quality of decision-making by OIM and their support personnel. This toolkit will be a decision-support system, which will forecast ice, keep track of hazardous ice features, provide alarms for any and all environmental conditions that might threaten the operation, and assist in planning of new operations. The paper describes the need for such a system, best practices in Ice Observation and Advising, the key system design criteria; main system components, inputs and outputs; the stages of development, the modes of application that will achieve acceptance in the field; and finally, the benefits. Experiences of ice advisory projects undertaken in the Beaufort Sea, Baffin Bay, Sea of Okhosk, and the Caspian Sea are described. Rather than simply describe Ice Advisory work in the field, the paper casts current practice into the framework of standardized and best practices, and indicates how software, communications and instrumentation technological advances can be applied to support better decision making by expert teams that are distributed in space and involve people from different job functions and skill sets.

Abstract As more attention is paid to the exploration of oil and gas resources in thehigh north, the settlement of the disputed area between Norway and Russia, andthe world's ever-rising demand for energy resources, more and more oilcompanies and suppliers are moving north. For most oil companies, rig and shipoperators and logistics providers, the Arctic represents a new frontier, whereexisting operational systems and technologies are tested to their limits. Thispaper outlines key challenges facing the development of sustainable and safemaritime offshore operation in Arctic waters. The Arctic offers challengesrelated to harsh weather conditions, long distances from bases, limited orabsent infrastructure, a sensitive ecosystem, ensuring safety at sea, potentialoil spills and operations in ice-infested waters. Arctic operations are thussignificantly different from operations in the North Sea. This state of affairsunderlines the need for new or improved organisational and business models forintegrated logistics operations, value chain management and technologicalsolutions that will ensure sustainable and safe maritime operations. It alsodemands optimised design of ships and structures for operation in the Arcticenvironment as well as improved communication infrastructure based onsatellite, terrestrial, ship-to-ship or ad-hoc systems, radar and opticalsatellites. Key features discussed will include ideas and concepts forarea-specific vessel design and multipurpose vessels, with integrated supportand logistics models and systems, base-to-base operation and tailored businessmodels for robust Arctic field operation. The aim is to ensure a holistic andintegrated transport and logistics infrastructure in sparsely populated areaswith extreme weather conditions (polar lows, darkness, fog, ice and icing), including the interplay between vessel technology and the operationalmanagement.

Abstract The analysis of historical satellite data, both radar and optical, areuseful for understanding the nature of ice conditions in Arctic regions andunderstanding the risk they pose for exploration and development. Archivesatellite data are available at no cost and can be analyzed to assess theseverity and variability of iceberg concentrations and their behavior. National ice centres have been providing charts of sea ice conditions, whichcan be analyzed to understand probabilities of encountering ice of variousconcentrations and the lengths of the open water season. The outputs ofthese analyses are useful for understanding the risk of operating in Arcticregions and for developing an ice management plan. Introduction Satellite radar and optical imagery are essential tools for understandingsea ice and iceberg conditions in frontier Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery can be collected day or night, are relatively independent of environmental conditions, can be collectedthrough fog and cloud cover and provide information over remote areas at noadditional cost. There is a substantial archive of low resolution imageryavailable and there is a growing number of sensors available for newacquisitions. Optical imagery, when available, are excellent forproviding detailed information on ice features such as sea ice ridges andiceberg sizes. Low resolution optical data are collected continuously, medium resolution data is available close to shore and high resolution imagescan be acquired from a large number of sensors. Historic satellite data are used to develop an understanding of the severityand variability of ice conditions in an area. This information serves asan input for the design of structures and selection of vessels that can beutilized in an area as well for development of an ice management plan anddefining the operational window. New image acquisitions are an important part of the detection component ofan operational ice management plan. Surveillance in certain marginal icezones, such as the Grand Banks, do not rely on satellite imagery since they areclose to shore and reconnaissance can be carried out almost exclusively usingplatform radar and vessel and aerial surveillance. However, the costs ofthis approach grow in remote areas and satellite SAR data have been used inaddition to platform radar to support operations in new Arctic explorationregions.

Abstract The process of selecting a field development concept following a discoveryinvolves a complex iterative interaction between its key elements ofsubsurface, drilling and completions, surface facilities, and commercial andregulatory considerations. The objective being to understand how differentrisks and uncertainties impact each scenario, leading to the final selection ofthe tsingle concept that best balances the key elements and extracts maximumvalue for all stakeholders. A recommended procedure for Arctic concept selection has been developed, using a building-block approach matched with a practical and systematic methodfor understanding the key drivers and uncertainties in a project. In order tocomplete this type of anyalysis, experienced professionals are equipped with atoolkit and set of processes that allow a disciplined approach to only doingwork that is focused on each decision that has to be made. This then leads tothe development of a decision based plan to extract the maximum value from anyopportunity. Also discussed are some of the common traps that can befall a conceptselection study such as: solving the wrong problem due to an inadequate projectframe; utilizing incorrect, invalid or out of date data; having inadequatesystems and tools in place to maintain focus and alignment; an inability toarticulate key insights; a lack of team integration; and finally the dangers ofan activity based workscope instead of a decision based one. Introduction Recent studies have estimated that 25% of the world's petroleum reserves arelocated in Arctic waters. Current energy demand has promoted renewed interestin the exploration and field development of offshore hydrocarbon basins inArctic and ice covered waters of the northern hemisphere. With the oilindustry's continued quest for oil and gas in frontier offshore locations, several developments have taken place in regions characterized by seasonal icecover and the presence of icebergs including the US Beaufort, North Caspian, Sakhalin Island, and the east coast of Canada. These new frontier developmentshave a higher cost per barrel than traditional developments. With thisknowledge, it becomes even more important to make good robust decisions whenanalyzing projects to invest in and maximize the value of capital employed. Additionally frontier basins have a lack of benchmark data to give confidencein development costs and schedules - the old " norms" simply don't apply inthese cases.

Abstract Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have a role to play in several phases of offshore exploration and production in the Arctic. They have the potential to enable year-round data gathering under sea ice. However, this potential can only be realized if their reliability is sufficiently high and sufficiently well established. This paper describes a Risk Management Process-AUV that has been developed to assess (a) the probability of losing an AUV and (b) the availability of an AUV, that is, " How likely is it that, when required, the AUV is ready to begin its operations??? Assessing these probabilities requires bringing together knowledge of vehicle faults and incidents, a body of knowledge on the operating environment, and how the vehicle and environment interact. The tools necessary to make these assessments are described. Examples are given of how they can be used by owners and operators to provide a clear and traceable derivation of how the risks have been estimated. These examples draw upon risk assessments for the Autosub3 AUV in Polar Regions. Introduction The scientific community, often with support from the military, has been using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) in the Arctic for over 40 years (ECOR, 2010 [1]). This community has demonstrated the utility of these vehicles when operating from ships or from ice camps, on fast ice or on drifting ice floes. In early 2010 the pioneering 300km round-trip mission in the Canadian Arctic by the ISE Explorer vehicle demonstrated what is now possible from remote ice camps (Kaminski et al., 2010 [2]). These through-ice hole operations during Project Cornerstone are likely to be the precursor of further AUV operations in the high Arctic. There are no longer insurmountable technical hurdles for similar tasks by Explorer or other AUVs for use in arctic waters subject to seasonal or permanent ice cover. Building on this expeditionary experience, commercially available AUVs now have the potential to contribute on an operational basis to several tasks related to offshore exploration and production in arctic seas. Several of these tasks mirror those required in temperate seas where use of AUVs for seabed survey in connection with initial site survey for platforms and pipelines is now very well established (for example, Chance, 2003 [3]). Other tasks are specific to the Arctic, such as ice monitoring and management systems for sea ice and icebergs. In these tasks AUVs could augment satellite remote sensing, ice models and ice forecasts as they have an unique ability to gather accurate data on ice draft on a spatial scale that is relevant to real-time decision support. The additional information on ice type and detailed morphology gained through multibeam imagery of the under side of ice (for example, Wadhams et al., 2006 [4]) would be a valuable contribution to an ice management decision support system. Other operations such as pipeline touch-down monitoring, routine environmental monitoring of cutting piles and produced water, and emergency response data-gathering, including quantifying dissolved hydrocarbons, deposits on the seabed, or under ice, and monitoring currents to provide information for spill dispersal models can be augmented using AUV technology.

Abstract On the North Slope of Alaska, ice roads provide a cost-effective means of oil and gas exploration with minimal impact to the underlying tundra. Their widespread use represents a challenge to water resource managers due to the water required to construct and maintain them - water that is typically extracted from the lakes that dot the landscape. Water balance and ecosystem impact must be considered in the state regulatory process that permits ice road construction. More importantly, these impacts must be considered by the community of North Slope stakeholders together to establish equitable plans to meet stakeholder objectives of economic development and environmental and cultural preservation. Under a grant from the National Energies Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, the North Slope Decision Support System (NSDSS) is currently being developed for the stakeholder community to use in the ice road planning process. Development of the DSS is a collaborative effort of academic and industry personnel with significant stakeholder involvement from multiple agencies of local, state, and federal government, private energy companies, and non- governmental organizations. The NSDSS consists of 1) a cyberinfrastructure (CI) composed of a network of federated databases - some created as part of the NSDSS project and some already established through other data collection and serving efforts, and 2) a GIS-based web portal (NSDSS.net) that contains both data exploration and publishing tools and environmental and ice road planning analysis tools. The CI contains GIS data, field observations, IPCC climate scenario based GCM outputs, and historical reanalysis products. Some of these data types are served through emerging technologies such as the Consoritum of Universites for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences, Inc (CUAHSI) Observations Data Model (ODM) system. Other data types, such as the GCM NetCDF-based data files, are served through service-oriented designs developed within this project. A central metadata catalog service provides system-wide search capabilities and seamless facilitation for pulling data from the various databases within the network. Users can add their own data to the CI through publishing services, accessible through the web portal. The NSDSS technological solution is specifically designed to allow multiple stakeholders to review and reach consensus on ice road plans. Using the web portal, stakeholders such as oil and gas companies can create ice road plans specifying 1) the alignment of the road and how the road avoids endangered species habitats, sensitive tundra, and culturally significant regions, and 2) the lakes that will provide water for the construction process. Stakeholders can also use GCM-based weather forecasts to produce near- and long-term forecasts of the available water and post-extraction dissolved oxygen in the lakes; using this information, stakeholders can build understanding of the risk of insufficient water for ice road construction and the impact removing water will have on lake chemistry. Moreover, as the GCM-based forecasts stretch out for nearly a century, stakeholders can begin to understand how climate change is likely to impact the oil and gas exploration process in the future. The end goal of the NSDSS is to help North Slope stakeholders build a common and informed understanding of the impact of ice roads on the North Slope and ultimately proceed with oil and gas exploration in a manner acceptable to all.

Abstract Arctic Ocean environments are quite delicate, and shipping in Arctic regions has been very limited. Although ships are the most efficient means of cargo transport from an air quality perspective, they are never the less considered large point sources of CO2 and GHG emissions. Recognizing this, local far north Alaskan air quality requirements have called for the use of Ultra Low Sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuels to lessen SOx emissions from engine driven main propulsion systems and other onboard auxiliary machinery. ULSD (limited to 15 ppm or 0.0015% sulfur) exceeds all current requirements for marine diesel fuels to be burned in the proposed Emissions Control Areas worldwide. There is a price to pay for burning ULSD, as the physical properties of the diesel fuel are changed during the sulfur removal process. In addition, end-product fuel analysis varies depending upon the sulfur content in the feed stock, and the oil refinery used to produce ULSD. Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel is known to have caused engine and component malfunctions due to decreased lubricity, viscosity, and other compositional incompatibilities. This paper (referencing a recently completed project) will highlight the methodology used to prepare a ship for the switch from Marine Gas Oil to ULSD. Introduction Dry docked in the Philippines, a drill ship was undergoing extensive upgrading to ready it for service in Alaskan waters. The proven rig was ideally suited to the location where it was to operate and therefore, an investment decision was made to renew steel, machinery, and all equipment, required for the voyage. The original main diesel engine was to provide the propulsion power for the trip. Electrical power was to be provided by several large Caterpiller diesel engines located in a separate machinery space forward of the centrally located drilling rig. Because of the air quality restrictions in the working area, preparations were being made for the loading and use of Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) in the main propulsion and other auxiliary diesel engine systems. ULSD is known to have caused engine and component malfunctions due to decreased lubricity, viscosity, and other compositional incompatibilities. The OEM no longer supported the main propulsion engine (although third party support was available), and there was little original, fuel system technical documentation remaining on-board. It wasn't well understood how the main diesel engine would handle the switch over to ULSD. There were also questions regarding several of the auxiliary engines too. For this reason, DNV was invited to perform a risk assessment (RA) on behalf of the vessel charterer to better understand the impact of switching from Marine Gas Oil to USLD. The objective of the exercise was to assess the risk, identify mitigating procedures, and inform the officers and crew.

Abstract On the North Slope of Alaska, ice roads and ice pads provide a cost-effective means of oil and gas exploration with minimal impact to the sensitive underlying tundra. They have become integral to oil and gas exploration activities. Their widespread use represents a challenge to water resource managers, however, due to the large volume of water required to construct and maintain them - water that is typically extracted from the many lakes that dot the landscape. Crucial questions on water balance and ecosystem impact must be considered in the state regulatory process that permits construction of these ice structures. More importantly, these questions must be considered by the community of North Slope stakeholders together in order to arrive at equitable plans that satisfy stakeholder objectives of economic development and environmental and cultural preservation. Under a grant from the National Energies Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, the North Slope Decision Support System (NSDSS) is currently being developed as a system the stakeholder community can use together in the ice road planning process. Major modules of the DSS include information systems, natural system models, and planning and management functions. Development of the DSS is a collaborative effort of academic and industry personnel with significant stakeholder involvement from multiple agencies of local, state, and federal government, private energy companies, and non-governmental organizations. NSDSS includes multi-objective planning routines for ice road routes. Pareto-optimal route alternatives are determined for cost, travel time, completion date, and other objectives. Spatial search domains are built using geographic information system (GIS) layers for a range of variables including water availability, vegetation and wildlife sensitivity, and topography, among others. Ant Colony System (ACS) optimization is utilized with novel algorithms for graph pre- and postprocessing to improve solution efficiency. Output from the planning routines allows decision makers to understand tradeoff relationships among objectives. The ice road planning (IRP) algorithm includes water balance analysis to understand likely long-term impacts on regional water resources and possible adaptation measures. Introduction The North Slope of Alaska is a region rich in a variety of natural resources. About one-quarter of U.S. petroleum production occurs in the region, and the full extent of oil and gas resources located on- and off-shore is still being discovered. The harsh environment hosts unique human civilizations, flora, and fauna, and industrial development impacts on all of these are of continual concern. To minimize environmental impact, on-shore exploration for energy resources occurs in the winter; the tundra landscape is frozen and less susceptible to long-term disturbance. O further protect the land surface, ice roads and ice pads are constructed on the ground and used for transport and staging. These ice roads and pads are built from liquid water pumped from the many lakes in the region and from packed snow cover.