Snow And Ice Thickness Properties of Lake Melville, a Canadian Fjord Located Along the Labrador Coast

This manuscript presents snow and ice properties collected in March 2009 of Lake Melville, a fjord located along the mid-Labrador coast. Ice thickness and ice roughness were collected with helicopter-borne Electromagnetic-laser (EM) sensor and snow thickness with a GroundPenetrating-Radar (GPR) sensor. Lake Melville has freshwater surface layer due mainly to the outflow from the Churchill River, whose seasonal runoff cycle has been modified since 1972 by hydroelectric developments. The EM data indicated that the Lake’s surface freshwater layer reached depths of up to 5m beneath a saline ice cover that varied in thickness between 50 and 150cm. The GPR measured snow thicknesses of up to 50cm, with thinner thicknesses near open water regions where the blowing snow was lost into the open water. Ice and snow property data collected at on-ice stations showed that the ice contained salt, suggesting it was formed from a saline surface mixed layer present when the ice was forming. A hand-lowered CTD, capable of going through a 2-inch auger hole in the ice, verified the existence of the winter surface freshwater layer.