<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The sea ice regime is considered to be a sensitive indicator of climate change. This study investigates long-term changes in the ice regimes of the Gulf of Riga along the coast of Latvia in comparison with those of inland waters. The ice regime of the studied region indicates the impact of climate change related to increasing air and sea water temperatures. Ice cover duration on both the sea and inland waters has decreased during recent decades. In addition, long-term records on ice break in the studied region exhibit a pattern of periodic changes in the intensity of ice regime, while trends of the sea ice regime are not consistent between periods of time. Alternating mild and severe winters also occur. The ice regime was shown to be strongly influenced by large-scale atmospheric circulation processes over the North Atlantic, as indicated by close correlation with the North Atlantic Oscillation index.</p></abstract>

The sea ice regime is considered to be a sensitive indicator of climate change. This study investigates long-term changes in the ice regimes of the Gulf of Riga along the coast of Latvia in comparison with those of inland waters. The ice regime of the studied region indicates the impact of climate change related to increasing air and sea water temperatures. Ice cover duration on both the sea and inland waters has decreased during recent decades. In addition, long-term records on ice break in the studied region exhibit a pattern of periodic changes in the intensity of ice regime, while trends of the sea ice regime are not consistent between periods of time. Alternating mild and severe winters also occur. The ice regime was shown to be strongly influenced by large-scale atmospheric circulation processes over the North Atlantic, as indicated by close correlation with the North Atlantic Oscillation index.

Dynamics and Impacting Factors of Ice Regimes in Latvia Inland and Coastal Waters

Faculty of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Latvia, Raina bulv. 19, LV-1586, Rīga,

Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The sea ice regime is considered to be a sensitive indicator of climate change. This study investigates long-term changes in the ice regimes of the Gulf of...

Dynamics and Impacting Factors of Ice Regimes in Latvia Inland and Coastal Waters

Published Online: Mar 01, 2017

Page range: 400 - 408

Received: Feb 13, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/prolas-2016-0059

Keywords
ice regime, coastal waters, large-scale atmospheric circulation, climate change

© 2016 Māris Kļaviņš et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Dynamics and Impacting Factors of Ice Regimes in Latvia Inland and Coastal Waters

Published Online: Mar 01, 2017

Page range: 400 - 408

Received: Feb 13, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/prolas-2016-0059

Keywordsice regime, coastal waters, large-scale atmospheric circulation, climate change

© 2016 Māris Kļaviņš et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
ice regime, coastal waters, large-scale atmospheric circulation, climate change