Nenana Ice Classic: Tanana River Ice Annual Breakup Dates  View Catalog Page Entry ID
NSIDC-0064
Summary
The Nenana river in the Interior of Alaska usually freezes over during October and November. The ice continues to grow throughout the winter accumulating an average maximum thickness of about 110 cm, depending upon winter weather conditions.
The Nenana River Ice Classic competition began in 1917 when railroad engineers bet a total of 800 dollars, winner takes all, guessing the exact time (month, day, hour, minute) ice on the Nenana River would break up. Each year since then, Alaska residents have guessed at the timing of the river breakup. A tripod, connected to an on-shore clock with a string, is planted in two feet of river ice during river freeze-up in October or November. The following spring, the clock automatically stops when the tripod moves as the ice breaks up. The time on the clock is used as the river ice breakup time.
Many factors influence the river ice breakup, such as air temperature, ice thickness, snow cover, wind, water temperature, and depth of water below the ice. Generally, the Nenana river ice breaks up in late April or early May (historically, April 20 to May 20). The time series of the Nenana river ice breakup dates can be used to indicate climate change in the region.
Geographic Coverage
Spatial Coordinates:
N: 62°
S: 62°
E: -149°
W: -149°
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Data Set Citation
Dataset Creator: Nenana Ice Classic
Dataset Title: Nenana Ice Classic: Tanana River Ice Annual Breakup Dates
Dataset Release Date: 2011-09-29
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, Colorado USA
Dataset Publisher: NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0064.html
Temporal Coverage
Start Date: 1917-04-01
Data Resolution
Temporal Resolution: 1 year
Science Keywords
- Cryosphere Snow/Ice Freeze/Thaw
- Cryosphere Snow/Ice Ice Growth/Melt
- Cryosphere Snow/Ice River Ice
- Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Freeze/Thaw
- Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Ice Growth/Melt
- Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice River Ice
Ancillary Keywords
- EOSDIS
- Nenana Ice Classic
- Nenana River
- NSIDC
- River Ice Breakup
- Tanana River
Platform
Instrument
Project
- EOSDIS Earth Observing System Data Information System
- ESIP Earth Science Information Partners Program
Data Set Progress
in work
Data Center
NASA DAAC at the National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Data Center Personnel
Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
Distribution
Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 1 MB
Distribution Format: ASCII Text
Personnel
NSIDC User Services
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: 1 303 492-6199 x
Fax: 1 303 492-2468 x
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
- National Snow and Ice Data Center
- CIRES, 449 UCB
- University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA
Metadata Name and Version
Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date: 2011-09-29
Last DIF Revision Date: 2013-03-18
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