People living and working in the Arctic have been demanding a holistic approach to environmental information services. Arctic PASSION’s lake ice service provides near real time information about the ice conditions of freshwater lakes in an easy-to-access and simple format. This information is important for transport, Arctic livelihoods, and safety issues. Importantly, lake ice is sensitive to intra-annual temperature fluctuations and long-term temperature trends. It is therefore a valuable indicator of climate warming, which will likely have dramatic impacts on lake ice phenology in northern latitudes. Lake ice also affects lake ecology, water quality and local weather by reducing the energy exchange between water and the atmosphere.

Satellite-based Earth Observation (EO) techniques provide the only effective means to monitor the vast areas of the Arctic. Although in-situ observations of ice cover are valuable, they are typically made from shore when the ice is freezing or melting, while satellites offer information about all parts of the lake. As cloud cover and polar night obscures the visibility of optical sensors to ground, there is an urgent need to develop an observing system for lake ice that combines the EO and in-situ information. The Lake Ice Service fill this gap by providing both, EO and in-situ data (Community Based Monitoring and governmental observation networks). The Lake Ice Service is implemented in SYKE’s TARKKA+ service, which is a highly customizable web application framework for visualizing spatiotemporal data both in map format and as statistical timeseries. The information will be useful for citizens and local communities as well as for scientific purposes.

The Lake Ice Service in SYKE's TARKKA+ portal. Photo: Kirsikka Heinilä

Riku Lumiaro, SYKE’s image bank

Riku Lumiaro, SYKE’s image bank

The Lake Ice Service for Arctic Climate and Safety is one of the eight pilot services of the Arctic PASSION project and will be further extended and co-designed in cooperation with users. Importantly, on November 10th 2022 at 2 PM CET there will be an online seminar "Lake ice information in your pocket", where the purpose is to present the Lake Ice Service, to talk about citizen observations and opportunities around them, and to offer a valuable opportunity to open discussion and dialogue between service providers and the audience. Registration is possible here.

Join us November 10th at 2 PM CET on Zoom!