Air
Unmanned aircraft program lends students unique opportunities
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The U.S. government isn’t expected to open airspace for civilian unmanned drone flight until 2015.
But Northwestern Michigan College students can fly drones today.
Climate
Photo Friday: Ice atop Lake Erie
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When last week’s snowstorm and cold spell made its way through the Great Lakes, nearly 90 percent of Lake Erie froze over, according to the NASA Earth Observatory. The colorized picture above shows ice (pale blue) and snow (blue-green) formed on top of the lake. A report by Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at Wunderground.com, showed that these high levels of ice coverage had not been seen on the Great Lakes since January 1994.
Climate
Ice forming along Chicago River
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The Chicago River just west of where it enters Lake Michigan with what is known as brash ice, floating fragments of ice usually less than two meters across. Image: Greg Monahan
Wildlife
Study shows invasive species not as abundant as some assume
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Invasive species are a problem, but are they a death sentence for the ecosystems that they infect?
Not quite, according to a new university study.
Climate
Photo Friday: Warm Great Lakes clash with frigid air to produce steam fog
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This color-enhanced picture from the NASA Earth Observatory shows how the cold air moving across warmer waters of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior during this week’s arctic storm transformed water vapor into steam fog. NASA says one of its satellites on Jan. 6 captured the data used here to illustrate the difference between snow (bright orange), water clouds (white), and mixed clouds (peach). Here’s what steam fog looked like near Chicago and from the ground view.
Climate
Snowy mitten
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Take a look at the NASA Earth Observatory’s remarkable photo of the gigantic snowstorm this week that affected all of the Great Lakes region, plus many other states.
Nearshore
Restoring Lake Erie’s largest wetland
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The Nature Conservancy has a five-year restoration of Erie Marsh now underway.
Echo
Radar, algorithm analyze Great Lakes ice for boats, fisheries, forecasters
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Think all ice is the same?
That’s not the case on the Great Lakes.
And now scientists have found out how to detect the differences.
With math.
Wildlife
Podcast: John Vucetich on Michigan’s wolf hunt, which begins today
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We talked to John Vucetich, a wildlife biologist and professor at Michigan Technological University, last month about Michigan’s first-ever wolf hunt, which begins today.
His answers are featured in our latest podcast.
Echo
Great Lakes Commission launches restoration database
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You can now track progress on restoring the Great Lakes at a new database provided by the Great Lakes Commission. It focuses on conservation plans implemented by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative over the past three years, and includes several projects in each of the eight Great Lakes states. The initiative, which is managed by the Environmental Protection Agency, has received more than $220 million since 2010 for wildlife restoration. It has led to hundreds of different environmental endeavors ranging from turtle protection research in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to a dam removal in eastern New York. The database contains fact sheets on all work from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.