Automated detection of river ice using MODIS data: Examining spatial and temporal patterns in Arctic river ice breakup ...

• Main Author: Cooley, Sarah
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries 2015
• Subjects: Arctic; Spring River; Yenisey
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17615/tzx2-p669; https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/honors_theses/tm70n055n

The annual spring river ice breakup has vast consequences for northern ecosystems as well as significant economic implications for Arctic industry and transportation. River ice breakup research is restricted by the sparse distribution of hydrological stations in the Arctic. A trend towards earlier ice breakup has been noted across the Arctic region, yet the specific climatic drivers of these trends are complex and can vary both regionally and within river systems. Consequently, understanding the response of river ice processes to a warming Arctic requires examination of both spatial and temporal trends in breakup timing. In this paper, I describe an automated algorithm for detecting the timing of river ice breakup using MODIS imagery that enables identification of spatial and temporal breakup patterns at whole-river scales and present an analysis of breakup timing on the Mackenzie, Lena, Ob and Yenisey rivers. Through splitting the rivers into 10 km segments and classifying each river pixel as snow, ice, ...