12 February 2001 - Ice On Lake Erie

GOES-8 visible image - Click to enlarge

GOES-8 visible channel

(- Animation -)

lake ice analysis - Click to enlarge

Eastern Great Lakes ice analysis

(13-15 February 2001)

NOAA GOES-8 visible channel imagery (above, left) shows a large region of ice covering much of the eastern portion of Lake Erie on 12 February 2001. Large fissures are evident in the ice structure. A National Ice Center lake ice analysis (above, right) shows that this part of Lake Erie had 9 to 10 tenths of ice coverage. There is greater ice coverage on Lake Erie compared to the adjacent Lakes Ontario and Huron due to the fact that the water is more shallow in Lake Erie, allowing the water temperatures to cool and freeze more quickly in winter. A summary of the 2000-2001 winter season is available from the Buffalo NY National Weather Service office.

Higher resolution visible channel imagery from the NASA Terra MODIS instrument (below) reveals even greater detail in the lake ice and fissure structure. Recent examples of MODIS visible imagery are available here.

MODIS visible image - Click to enlarge

MODIS visible channel
(1.0 km resolution)

MODIS visible image  - Click to enlarge

MODIS visible channel
(0.5 km resolution)

MODIS visible image - Click to enlarge

MODIS visible channel
(0.25 km resolution)


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