High‐Resolution Mapping of Ice Cover Changes in Over 33,000 Lakes Across the North Temperate Zone

Abstract

Half of the world's lakes (approximately 50 million) periodically freeze (Verpoorter et al., 2014). The phenology of lake ice (i.e., freeze/thaw dates and duration) not only influences physical conditions (such as heat storage, temperature, mixing) of underlying ecosystems (

Continuous Loss of Global Lake Ice Across Two Centuries Revealed by Satellite Observations and Numerical Modeling

“…We found 1,814 or 6.0% of the global lakes showed significantly increased ice duration. For example, lakes with earlier freeze‐up and later break‐up were detected in the Rocky Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and Greenland, resulting in large negative anomalies in ice duration (<−40 days, Figure 4; we define anomaly as a deviation from the present period); such sporadic lake ice increases were due to the regional decreases in air temperatures in these regions (X. Wang et al., 2021).…”

“…These sporadic field measurements represent a major limitation for developing a generic thermodynamic model to simulate GLIP. In particular, in addition to the prevailing air temperature, ice formation is strongly dependent on lake heat storage (often related to water depth) (Brown & Duguay, 2010; Kirillin et al., 2012; X. Wang et al., 2021), and heat transportation processes are lake specific (B. J. Benson et al., 2012; Walsh et al., 1998; Weyhenmeyer et al., 2011). Satellite observations provide an alternative to characterize GLIP and their changes (Cai et al., 2019; Kouraev et al., 2007); however, spatially and temporally detailed information on the changes in ice phenology on a global scale does not exist.…”

“…These sporadic field measurements represent a major limitation for developing a generic thermodynamic model to simulate GLIP. In particular, in addition to the prevailing air temperature, ice formation is strongly dependent on lake heat storage (often related to water depth) (Brown & Duguay, 2010;Kirillin et al, 2012;X. Wang et al, 2021), and heat transportation processes are lake specific (B. J.…”

Selective Exclusion of Aromatic Organic Carbon During Lake Ice Formation

“…In most lake waters, dissolved organic matter (DOM) is the largest pool of organic carbon and represents an important energy source for heterotrophs (Logue et al., 2016). At northern latitudes that harbor the majority of the Earth's inland waters, lakes are typically ice covered in the winter (Figures 1a and 1b) (Wang et al., 2021). When surface water freezes, gases, ions, and stored DOM is expelled from the advancing ice‐water interface during crystal growth into the underlying water (Belzile et al., 2002; Jørgensen et al., 2015; Petrich & Eicken, 2010).…”

Near‐bed stratification controls bottom hypoxia in ice‐covered alpine lakes

“…A recent field‐based study estimated that the ice cover of Northern hemisphere lakes has, on average, shortened by 17 d over the last century (Sharma et al 2021). Significant achievements in remote sensing allow the monitoring of lake ice phenology where ground data are scarce (Wang et al 2021). Deterministic or data‐driven modeling approaches can predict the vulnerability of currently dimictic lakes to permanent ice loss until the end of the century (Woolway and Merchant 2019; Caldwell et al 2021) as well as more continuous changes in ice phenology (Råman Vinnå et al 2021).…”