1. Operational Great Lakes Ice Charts and On-line Climatology 18 th Annual Canada/US Great Lakes Operational Meteorology Workshop Toronto Ontario Marie-France Gauthier Canadian Ice Service March 22-24, 2010

2. Contents The North American Ice Service (NAIS) Operational Focus…Ice Information and Data Integration Great Lakes Ice Climatology Summary

3. North American Ice Service Our Vision –To create a harmonized suite of products and services for ice information for North American waters to serve the needs of users for safety of navigation and informed decision making Our History –Canada-US Joint Ice Working Group (JIWG) meeting for about 20 years –Signed a “North American Ice Service” agreement in June 2004

4. North American Ice Service Goals –Support safe and efficient maritime operations –Meet national security requirements –Deliver ice information for numerical weather, ocean and environmental prediction –Support climate change research –Provide sound ice knowledge for decision making and policy development –Improve national ice information quality and efficiency –Provide national backup capabilities

5. Operational Focus… Ice Information and Data Integration Weather Previous Charts Climatology

6. Operational Focus… Ice Information and Data Integration ICE SERVICE SPECIALIST ON-BOARD VISUAL RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITE

7. (Same week in February, 2004) NAIS Great Lakes Charts

8. CIS NIC NAIS Great Lakes Charts Same Look & Feel Products

9. More than ice charts –Ice warning and daily forecast: FICN19CWIS –Seasonal Outlook: FECN19CWIS ▪Issued once at the beginning of the season and update every two weeks Common Production System –POLARIS ▪Latest ArcGIS technology ▪Various map projection ▪Better ice models ▪Automated chart generation ▪Winter 2010-11 Operational Focus… Ice Information and Data Integration

10. Ice Climatology & Archive Sea Ice since 1968 Lake Ice since 1972 Ice Graph Tool CIS Archive

11. Great Lakes Ice Climatology Weekly Ice Coverage 2009-2010

12. Great Lakes Ice Climatology Historical Ice Coverage for Mid-March since 1973

13. Great Lakes Ice Climatology Total Accumulated Ice Coverage - Dec. 4 to Mar. 12

14. Great Lakes Ice Climatology Departure from Normal Total Concentration

15. Past Record Ice Conditions

16. MAXIMUM ICE CONDITIONS - FEBRUARY1979 MINIMUM ICE CONDITIONS - MARCH 2002

17. Climate Variability Total ice cover on the Great Lakes has shown an overall decline of ~15% over the period 1973-2009. Lake Superior has shown the greatest decrease in total ice cover (~20% over the last 37 years). Lake Ontario has shown the smallest decrease in total ice cover (less than 10% over the last 37 years). Last winter (2008/09) has shown that heavy ice cover years do still occur and that interannual variability is a big factor for ice cover on the Great Lakes.

18. Summary The North American Ice Service is closely monitoring ice conditions on the Great Lakes. Providing information for the safety of all in Great Lakes waters is our primary concern. Our suite of products includes daily forecast and ice chart, weekly climate ice chart, thirty day forecast, seasonal outlook and end of season summary. While winters with easier than normal ice conditions have been more frequent in the last decade, Environment Canada expects that a large annual variability in the ice conditions over the Great Lakes will continue.

19. Oldest Great Lakes Chart in the CIS Archive THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION