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20 years of lake ice phenology in Alaska

14 June 2021

A new analysis of >4000 lakes in Alaska using NASA's MODIS satellite imagery from 2000-2019 was recently published in Environmental Research Letters. Researchers from Univ of South Florida, Univ of North Carolina, and Univ of Alaska Fairbanks found that ~10% of these lakes had earlier ice-out and 7% had later freeze-up timing over this 20 year period. Most lakes with significantly shorter ice cover duration were located north of the Brooks Range. Comparison of results by ecoregions showed interesting patterns across this vast lake-rich region.

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