Comparison to Changes of Lake Ice Phenology and Air Temperature over Northern Europe, Tibetan Plateau and Mongolian Plateau

Abstract Lake ice is a sensitive factor for the Earth’s environment and climate change research. In the comparative study on climate change to the Earth three-pole (Antarctic, Arctic, and Tibetan Plateau), the lake ice phenology can be used to represent seasonal climate changes. In this paper, the lake ice phenology and the corresponding daily temperature for 48 lakes in Northern Europe, Tibetan Plateau and Mongolia Plateau were used as the typical case for comparative research. Based on passive microwave remote sensing data. The results showed that the average lake ice cover duration experienced a consistent decreasing for the three regions from 1978-2018. However, in the northern Tibetan Plateau, though the lake ice cover duration showed a shortening trend from 1978 to 2000, it displayed a prolonged trend from 2000 to 2018. Moreover, the air temperature changes of the lake area had a significant correlation with the changes of ice cover duration in each region, and the change of 0 °C isotherm in the Northern Europe lakes are more sensitive than the Mongolian Plateau and the Tibetan Plateau. The air temperature played a major role in the change of lake ice phenology, but there were still other factors that affected the lake ice phenology changes, especially in northern Tibetan Plateau. By comparing the analysis of the ice cover duration in the three regions and the effect of air temperature on the lake ice cover duration change, it provides more evidences for the study on climate change research in different regions.