Ice phenomena in investigations of Polish lakes

Abstract

The paper presents nearly 150 years of history of ice research conducted on Polish lakes. In the first stage, these were observations and expedition studies that had an exploratory purpose. It was not until the 1920s that stationary measurements on several lakes were introduced. Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War II interrupted these observations. After the war, they were resumed in 1946, but the real beginning of investigations of ice phenomena on lakes is taken to be 1960. At present, stationary measurements of ice phenomena are conducted on about 70 lakes located mainly in northern Poland. Besides the purely explorative purpose, experimental research on ice phenomena on lakes has also contributed to the development of a measurement methodology. The author of this paper took part in numerous experimental studies conducted on over 30 lakes for which the ice results are partially presented below.