TY - JOUR

T1 - Changes in Ice Cover Duration and Maximum Ice Thickness for Rivers and Lakes in the Asian Part of Russia

AU - Вуглинский, Валерий Сергеевич

AU - Валатин, Дмитрий

N1 - Valery Vuglinsky, Dmitry Valatin. Changes in ice cover duration and maximum ice thickness for rivers and lakes in the Asian part of Russia, «Natural Resources», 2018, №9, pp.73-87.

PY - 2018/9

Y1 - 2018/9

N2 - This article is concerned with assessment of changes in two critical characteristics of lake and river ice regime, namely ice cover duration and maximum ice thickness, in the period from the beginning of the 80s to the present, which is characterized by higher temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere compared with the previous period. The above ice regime characteristics are often limiting factors in winter operation of lakes and rivers (navigation, hydraulic construction works in cold period, construction of ice roads etc.). Assessment of changes in ice characteristics of lakes and rivers has been made for 52 river and five lake gauging sites of the Asian part of Russia (APR) using long-term observation data from the Russian observing network. Long-term series of the above characteristics were divided into two periods: from 1955 to 1979 (the period of stationary climate) and from 1980 to 2014 (non-stationary climate) and assessed from the point of view of their homogeneity and trend significance by Student’s t-test. The research has found that at most of the sites in the APR, both ice cover duration and maximum ice thickness decreased during non-stationary climate period compared with the previous one. The greatest quantitative changes have occurred in the Eastern Siberia (average net decrease in ice cover duration amounted to 7 days∙decade−1 and in maximum ice thickness-20 cm∙decade−1) and in the Amur River basin (7 days∙decade−1 and 17 cm∙decade−1 respectively).

AB - This article is concerned with assessment of changes in two critical characteristics of lake and river ice regime, namely ice cover duration and maximum ice thickness, in the period from the beginning of the 80s to the present, which is characterized by higher temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere compared with the previous period. The above ice regime characteristics are often limiting factors in winter operation of lakes and rivers (navigation, hydraulic construction works in cold period, construction of ice roads etc.). Assessment of changes in ice characteristics of lakes and rivers has been made for 52 river and five lake gauging sites of the Asian part of Russia (APR) using long-term observation data from the Russian observing network. Long-term series of the above characteristics were divided into two periods: from 1955 to 1979 (the period of stationary climate) and from 1980 to 2014 (non-stationary climate) and assessed from the point of view of their homogeneity and trend significance by Student’s t-test. The research has found that at most of the sites in the APR, both ice cover duration and maximum ice thickness decreased during non-stationary climate period compared with the previous one. The greatest quantitative changes have occurred in the Eastern Siberia (average net decrease in ice cover duration amounted to 7 days∙decade−1 and in maximum ice thickness-20 cm∙decade−1) and in the Amur River basin (7 days∙decade−1 and 17 cm∙decade−1 respectively).

KW - Ice Regime, Rivers, Lakes, Asian Part of Russia, Changes, Last Three Decades

U2 - 10.4236/nr.2018.93006

DO - 10.4236/nr.2018.93006

M3 - Article

VL - 9

SP - 73

EP - 87

JO - Natural Resources Journal

JF - Natural Resources Journal

SN - 0028-0739

ER -