A Method To Determine Lake Depth and Water Availability on the North Slope of Alaska with Spaceborne Imaging Radar and Numerical Ice Growth Modelling

Abstract

Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and numerical ice growth modelling were used to determine maximum water depth and water availability in two areas of the North Slope in northwestern Alaska. SAR images obtained between September 1991 and May 1992 were used to identify when and how many lakes froze completely to the bottom, and how many lakes did not freeze completely to the bottom. At Barrow, on the coast, 60% of the lakes froze completely to the bottom in mid-January alone, and by the end of winter 77% of the lakes were completely frozen. In contrast, 100 km to the south in the 'B' Lakes region, only 23% of the lakes froze completely, and there was no sudden freezing of many lakes as occurred at Barrow. A physically based, numerical model was used to simulate ice growth on the lakes. The simulated maximum ice thickness is 2.2 m. Consequently, any lake where some part of the ice cover does not freeze to the bottom has some water more than 2.2 m deep. For those lakes where the ice cover had frozen completely at some time in the winter, the simulated ice growth curve provides the ice thickness at the time each lake had frozen completely to the bottom and thus the lake's maximum water depth. At Barrow, 60% of the lakes are between 1.4 and 1.5 m deep, and 23% are more than 2.2 m deep. At the 'B' Lakes, 77% of the lakes are more than 2.2 m deep. Thus, there is a considerable contrast in lake depth and water availability between the Barrow and the 'B' Lakes regions. This method is simple to implement, and the relatively inexpensive SAR data have good spatial and temporal coverage. This method could be used to determine lake depth and water availability on the entire North Slope and in other polar and subpolar areas where shallow lakes are common.