Lake Ice - The formation of lake ice brings shipping and transportation on inland waterways to a standstill for several months each year in
many northern areas. In addition to the impact on humans, the presence or absence of ice on lakes can have a major influence on the
ecology of a region. The presence of ice can govern the viability of fish life in a lake, for example.
Lake ice formation, thickness and break-up are also key indicators of regional climate especially in data-sparse regions which
characterize much of the Arctic. Lakes that freeze each winter are good indicators of regional climate change
if key parameters such as the dates of freeze-up and break-up and maximum ice thickness are measured over a decade-scale time
frame.
[keywords: Code 974, MODIS](Added: 24-Jun-1999 Hits: 802)
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Sea Ice Cover - Sea ice forms from the freezing of sea water. Sea ice covers roughly 7% of the Earth's oceans and may attain a thickness of 3 m or more. Movement of sea ice causes deformation of
the ice pack and tends to break uniform expanses of ice into irregular shapes called floes. The presence of sea ice influences the temperature and
circulation patterns of both the atmosphere and the oceans. Sea ice reduces the amount of solar radiation absorbed at the ocean's surface and serves as a strong insulator, restricting
exchanges of heat, mass, momentum and chemical constituents between the atmosphere and the ocean. With an ice cover, only 30-50% of the incident solar radiation is absorbed, the
rest being reflected, while without the ice 85-95% is absorbed by the oceans.
[keywords: MODIS, sea ice](Added: 24-Jun-1999 Hits: 844)
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