# DESIDE POLARIS Indicator

The Polar Operational Limit Assessment Risk Indexing System (POLARIS) is a methodology to assess the risk posed to a ship by ice conditions in relation to the ship's assigned ice class. It uses the WMO standard sea ice charts as the basis for the calculation.

1\. Select "POLARIS". (POLARIS Combined also provides the POLARIS information and adds Sentinel 1 and AI-derived ice information.)

![](https://ajeuwbhvhr.cloudimg.io/https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2025-06-10/d02c81d1-65c4-48b3-9e89-ef17e5373dc1/File.jpeg?tl_px=0,27&br_px=2408,1372&force_format=jpeg&q=100&width=1120.0&wat=1&wat_opacity=0.7&wat_gravity=northwest&wat_url=https://colony-recorder.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images/watermarks/FB923C_standard.png&wat_pad=328,277)


2\. POLARIS options are displayed in the left panel

![](https://ajeuwbhvhr.cloudimg.io/https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2025-06-10/db0ff810-0ec9-46ff-ba20-2d85d9704cc6/File.jpeg?tl_px=0,438&br_px=2408,1783&force_format=jpeg&q=100&width=1120.0&wat=1&wat_opacity=0.7&wat_gravity=northwest&wat_url=https://colony-recorder.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images/watermarks/FB923C_standard.png&wat_pad=159,277)


3\. The date of the analysis can be changed using the Datetime slider.

![](https://ajeuwbhvhr.cloudimg.io/https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2025-06-10/79cc2641-24e4-4646-ae3b-f23ba6cff307/File.jpeg?tl_px=0,14&br_px=2408,1359&force_format=jpeg&q=100&width=1120.0&wat=1&wat_opacity=0.7&wat_gravity=northwest&wat_url=https://colony-recorder.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images/watermarks/FB923C_standard.png&wat_pad=191,277)


4\. Select the ice class of the ship. \
Select the type of ice: decayed (summer) or standard (winter).\
Select the Type of Visualisation:\
- WMO Ice Concentration (from the ice chart)\\

- WMO Stage of Development (from the ice chart)\\
- POLARIS (risk index based on the ice characteristics and the ship ice class)

![](https://ajeuwbhvhr.cloudimg.io/https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2025-06-10/93ac893f-ba95-4097-ac5c-d9199683b189/File.jpeg?tl_px=0,597&br_px=2408,1942&force_format=jpeg&q=100&width=1120.0&wat=1&wat_opacity=0.7&wat_gravity=northwest&wat_url=https://colony-recorder.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images/watermarks/FB923C_standard.png&wat_pad=139,277)


5\. Additional information is displayed by hovering the mouse over the map.

![](https://ajeuwbhvhr.cloudimg.io/https://colony-recorder.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2025-06-10/8d07f49c-bbe9-4ec3-aa18-2c44bd756748/File.jpeg?tl_px=329,219&br_px=2737,1564&force_format=jpeg&q=100&width=1120.0&wat=1&wat_opacity=0.7&wat_gravity=northwest&wat_url=https://colony-recorder.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images/watermarks/FB923C_standard.png&wat_pad=524,277)