Albedo of a Small Ice-Covered Boreal Lake: Daily, Meso-Scale and Interannual Variability on the Background of Regional Climate

Abstract

In winter, the reflective properties of ice-and-snow-covered lakes and the surrounding surface covered with snow differ little. Estimation of the albedo becomes especially important in spring when the reflectivity of the ice-covered lakes differs markedly from the surrounding snow-free surface. The measurements of the snow and ice albedo in situ are necessary to ensure adequate analysis of remote sensing data and monitoring of the state of the land ice. A wide range of surface albedo of small boreal ice-covered Lake Vendyurskoe (North-Western Russia) is calculated from observational data of solar radiation obtained in 1995–2000 and 2002–2017. A noticeable variability of albedo due to spring melting and changes in weather conditions is described. Climatic variability (North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, the average monthly air temperature and sum of precipitation in December-March) is analyzed in the context of possible influence on the maximal thickness of snow and white ice, and, consequently, on the spring lake albedo dynamics. In current work to estimate the external heat flux that comes from the atmosphere to the surface of the lake and presumably determines the dynamics of albedo during spring melting, a simple parameter was used: the accumulated sum of positive temperatures, starting from March 1. The obtained prognostic equation of the cubic dependence of albedo on the named parameter demonstrates a different rate of albedo decrease in the melting of snow, white, and congelation ice.

Keywords

• ice and snow albedo
• ice-covered lake
• regional climate
• NAO index