ReSEC research group members Arash Rafat (PhD student), Alex MacLean and Homa Kheyrollah Pour, in collaboration with Aurora Research Institute and Environment and Climate Change Canada, published a paper in Cold Regions Science and Technology Journal entitled “An Analysis of Ice Growth and Temperature Dynamics in Two Canadian Subarctic Lakes”.
The paper uses two real time ice sensors, nicknamed SIMBA, to monitor thermodynamic interactions between air, snow, ice, and water in two subarctic lakes, north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories between December 2021 and March 2022. Results show that: 1) deeper lakes may react more sensitively to variable air temperatures than shallow lakes, 2) differences in ice growth rates between the two lakes were driven by differences in water temperatures, and 3) ice growth in the shallow lake was slowed by released from lake sediments. Results have great significance to northern lake ice safety under future climate change and variability.
The paper can be downloaded here
