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March 26, 2015 - Ice on the Great Lakes
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As winter deepens on North America’s Great Lakes, ice forms on the surface of the water. At times, it may become so widespread and thick that it may interfere with shipping, fishing, and hydropower generation, as well as other activities.
Ice cover usually peaks in early March, and then begins to diminish as springtime arrives. The average maximum ice cover on the Lakes since 1973 has hovered around 50 percent. The last two winters, however, have seen frigid temperatures and high levels of ice cover. Ice cover on the Great Lakes reached 88 percent in mid-February, 2014 – levels that had not been observed since 1994. In fact, sea ice extent on the Great Lakes has surpassed 80 percent only five times in four decades. Peak ice cover for 2015 has exceeded the previous year – 88.8 percent, reached in the early days of March.
As air temperatures began to rise in mid-March, the ice cover began to rapidly decrease. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this false-color image of ice cover on North America’s Great Lakes on March 17, 2015. On that day, ice covered 55 percent of the lakes, according to the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
This false-color image
Image Facts
Satellite:
Date Acquired:
Resolutions:
Bands Used:
Image Credit:
As winter deepens on North America’s Great Lakes, ice forms on the surface of the water. At times, it may become so widespread and thick that it may interfere with shipping, fishing, and hydropower generation, as well as other activities.
Ice cover usually peaks in early March, and then begins to diminish as springtime arrives. The average maximum ice cover on the Lakes since 1973 has hovered around 50 percent. The last two winters, however, have seen frigid temperatures and high levels of ice cover. Ice cover on the Great Lakes reached 88 percent in mid-February, 2014 – levels that had not been observed since 1994. In fact, sea ice extent on the Great Lakes has surpassed 80 percent only five times in four decades. Peak ice cover for 2015 has exceeded the previous year – 88.8 percent, reached in the early days of March.
As air temperatures began to rise in mid-March, the ice cover began to rapidly decrease. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this false-color image of ice cover on North America’s Great Lakes on March 17, 2015. On that day, ice covered 55 percent of the lakes, according to the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
This false-color image
Image Facts
Satellite:
Date Acquired:
Resolutions:
Bands Used:
Image Credit:
