Monitoring icebergs for Vendee Globe

(December 4, 2024; Day 25) – As the solo skippers race across the southern oceans close to Antarctica, the Vendée Globe is helping to navigate safe passage.

A virtual zone called the Antarctic Exclusion Zone (ZEA) has been set up around Antarctica, prohibiting skippers from getting too close to the ice which is contained within this no-go area. This zone is defined by the mission-driven company CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites), who are a long-standing partner of the race which is mobilizing satellites and experts for a unparalleled level of surveillance from space.

From space, three types of satellites continuously monitor icebergs which could threaten skippers and their boats. At an altitude of 700 km (435 miles), they detect, analyze, and track the ice using advanced technologies.

• Cloud-piercing radar satellites: to detect icebergs day and night.
• Optical satellites: space cameras.
• Altimetric satellites: normally used to measure the average sea level, their use has been diverted here to detect icebergs.

This monitoring would not be possible without the cooperation of the ESA (European Space Agency) and the CNES (Centre national d’études spatiales), parent company of CLS. For this 10th edition of the Vendée Globe, CLS is relying on:

• Sentinel-1A, a radar satellite from the European Space Agency (ESA).
• SWOT, an altimetric satellite launched in 2022, an innovation from CNES, which maps risk areas and predicts the movements of icebergs.

With these tools, each iceberg is integrated into forecast models that simulate its trajectory and evolution, allowing real-time adjustments to the Antarctic Exclusion Zone (AEZ).

Nearly 100 CLS experts, in Toulouse (France) and around the world, are mobilizing satellites and artificial intelligence to analyze the data. Their mission? Anticipate risks so that each skipper completes the loop in optimal safety conditions.

“Thanks to our long-standing partnership with CLS, we benefit from reassuring expertise and proven know-how, essential for meeting the unique challenges of the Southern Seas,” said Alain Leboeuf, President of the Vendée Globe. “This collaboration illustrates the strength of a lasting commitment to innovation and the safety of our heroes of the seas.”

CLS, a subsidiary of CNES (34%) and CNP2 (66%), is a company with an international mission, a pioneer in providing Earth observation and monitoring solutions since 1986. Its vision is to imagine and deploy innovative solutions to understand, protect our Planet and sustainably manage its resources. CLS employs nearly 950 people, at its headquarters in Toulouse and at its 34 other sites around the world.

The company operates in 5 strategic business sectors:

• Sustainable fisheries management
• Environmental monitoring & climate
• Maritime safety
• Mobility
• Energy & infrastructure

The company provides satellite services based on:

• Location and collection of environmental data (100,000 tags are processed each month, drifting buoys, tags equipping animals, fishing or commercial fleets, etc.)
• Observation of oceans and continental waters (more than 20 instruments, embarked on board satellites, deliver daily information to CLS on the seas and oceans of the globe),
• Monitoring of terrestrial and maritime activities (nearly 20,000 radar and optical images are processed and analyzed each year).

Race updates – Tracker – Ranking – Facebook

Attrition:
Nov. 15: Maxime Sorel (FRA), V and B – Monbana – Mayenne – ankle injury, mast damage

The Vendée Globe, raced in the 60-foot IMOCA, is the elite race round the world, solo, non-stop, and without assistance. On November 10, 40 skippers started the 2024-25 edition which begins and ends in Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

Armel Le Cléac’h, winning in 2017, holds the record for the 24,300 nm course of 74 days 03 hours 35 minutes 46 seconds. Only one sailor has won it twice: Michel Desjoyeaux in 2001 and 2009. This is tenth running of the race.

Source: VG2024, SSN