ICE CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN BALTIC SEA FROM SATELLITE DATA (2004–2019)

Abstract

The Russian part of the Southeastern Baltic Sea has a specific ice regime, which is determined by geographical location and climate conditions. Satellite data are widely used to study the propagation of sea ice. The advantages of radar images (RLI) from satellites equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) are a large area coverage and independence from daylight and cloud-cover conditions. There were 840 SAR images of the Southeastern Baltic Sea analyzed for the period from December 1 to March 31, 2004–2019. It is shown that in modern conditions ice phenomena in the southeast Baltic do not occur every year. It is shown that in recent conditions ice phenomena do not occur every year in the Southeastern Baltic Sea. The revealed spatial and temporal variations in the ice regime are determined by the consequences of climate changes in the Southeastern part of the Baltic Sea. The intensity of ice formation depend on temperature conditions. Ice formation begins mainly in the second half of January-early February. The average duration of sea ice period is 22 days per season. The probability of observing sea ice from a satellite is maximum in February. Stable ice fields occur when the daily average air temperatures drop below –5 °C during 5 or more days. The maximum duration of ice period and maximum ice extent are observed in February.