Reconstructing Great Lakes air temperature and ice dynamics data back to 1897
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Abstract
Ice cover on the Great Lakes plays an important role in regional climate, supports tourism and recreation, and provides ecological habitat. As the climate warms, ice cover in the Great Lakes is expected to decline, which in turn will create more lake effect precipitation, reduce ice cover for recreation, and alter habitat for aquatic species. While it is important to understand the historical ice patterns to better understand past distributions of aquatic species and improve the accuracy of forecasts for future ice cover on the lakes, Great Lakes ice cover data prior to 1973 is scarce, due to the limited routine satellite observations. We used weather station data around the Great Lakes to compile daily air temperature, calculate cumulative freezing degree-days and net melting degree-days from 1897–2023, and develop raster layers estimating ice duration and variability spatially during the historical period from 1897–1960.
Suggested Citation
King, K., Fujisaki-Manome, A., Brant, C., Cohn, D., Peng, I., and Alofs, K., 2026, Reconstructing Great Lakes air temperature and ice dynamics data back to 1897: Scientific Data, v. 13, 290, 11 p., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-06637-1.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Reconstructing Great Lakes air temperature and ice dynamics data back to 1897 |
| Series title | Scientific Data |
| DOI | 10.1038/s41597-026-06637-1 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Publication Date | January 22, 2026 |
| Year Published | 2026 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Nature |
| Contributing office(s) | Great Lakes Science Center |
| Description | 290, 11 p. |
| Country | Canada, United States |
| Other Geospatial | Great Lakes |