The Future of Arctic Water: lake ice & snow cover

Lakes, particularly those in cold regions, are increasingly vulnerable to a range of environmental pressures exacerbated by climate change. Understanding the future trajectories of these lakes is crucial for the communities that rely on them for their livelihoods. However, meaningful predictions are often constrained by limited spatial and temporal coverage of field observations, insufficient monitoring programs, and a lack of knowledge about in-lake processes and their resilience to external changes. Our research focuses on studying the physical and biogeochemical processes and dynamics of northern lakes. Our specific goals are to: (1) understand the past, present, and projected lake ice phenology and thickness; (2) investigate the relationship between ice condition variability and lake water properties; and (3) characterize and project lake ice subsurface-surface-atmosphere interaction and exchange processes in a changing climate using advanced remote sensing techniques. Ultimately, our goal is to develop transferable methods for predicting the sensitivity and vulnerability of cold-region lakes to climate change. By combining field observations, remote sensing data, and statistical and mechanistic modeling, we aim to create a framework for predictively assessing the coupled hydrodynamic and biogeochemical evolution of large lakes in cold regions worldwide.