Monday, December 3, 2007

A day on the ice...

Bubbles frozen in time (at least until spring) on Harding Lake.

Drilling on the Salcha River. Around the 1st of each month during the winter I go out and measure ice thicknesses on lakes and rivers in the Fairbanks area. This provides useful climatological information about fall freeze-up, winter ice growth, and spring breakup. This data also aides in forecasting the timing of spring break-up and the potential for ice jams.

We also measure the snow depth and water equivalent of the snowpack on the ice surface. The amount of snow on the ice is one variable that controls the rate of ice growth. Deeper snow=more insulation=less ice growth.

Here is the weather station we installed at Chena Hot Springs resort in the fall. I returned there today to set up some software and get the weather data flowing to the Internet. Now anyone can see what the current weather conditions are out at the hot springs.




All of the vegetation around the hot springs was encrusted with a delicate layer of beautiful hoar frost.

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