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Thursday, April 9, 2015

Lake Superior Ice Jam


I was listening to a report on NPR yesterday about ice jamming up a shipping route on Lake Superior. Every year when ice forms on the lake, icebreakers are needed to create shipping lanes for the passing container ships. The lanes around Whitefish Bay (in focus below with a 6-5-4 false color composite) have become completely covered due to drifting ice from earlier storms that compacted all the ice on the eastern part of Lake Superior. Some of the ice was reported to be eight feet thick as pieces piled on top of one another forming bigger chunks.  


The shipping lanes are being navigated through and cleared by a team of US and Canadian vessels. In this image you can faintly see the shipping lane which runs about 37 miles through Whitefish Bay alone.



Source: NPR, USGS, Google Earth Engine

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