Ice field on the territory of Ukraine during 2011-2018 in the months of the cold period of the year

Abstract

As part of the research “Forecasting the variability of climate-vulnerable areas in Ukraine in the coming decades” (state registration number 0118U000554) the author studied ice deposits in Ukraine at the present stage of climate change. The purpose of this article is to study distribution of ice deposits in Ukraine during the cold period of the year at the present stage of climate change in Ukraine and, thus, identify most vulnerable areas to this adverse weather phenomenon. Main material. Materials of instrumental observations of ice deposits on standard ice machine at all meteorological stations in Ukraine in the cold months of the year for the last 9 years were used for processing and further mapping. This reflects the current state of the climate system, providing opportunities for further identification of trends in events that may occur in the country, including adverse weather events. The article presents the spatial distribution of ice deposits on the territory of Ukraine for each of the cold months and individual months of the transition seasons. The author has identified most affected by such deposits areas in each of the oblasts and created separate cells. The article describes the combination of separate foci of ice deposits, covering several areas. The centers of such deposits are also described separately for each of the oblasts. The author shows the current state of the ice field for each region of Ukraine. This will further help identify climate-vulnerable regions from such adverse weather events and will allow for a more rational location of production and management of production processes. Conclusions. Thus, during 2011-2018, in most months of the cold period in Ukraine, there were clear and stable foci of ice deposits in the territory of its general distribution. The largest of the foci of such deposits combined and distributed in several adjacent areas. The foci of ice deposits were mostly in the western parts and in the north of Zhytomyr region, in the center of Ternopil and Khmelnytsky regions, in the north-west of Lviv and in the north of Zakarpattia regions. In the north and northeast, the most noticeable foci of such sediments were in the south of Kyiv, Chernihiv, eastern Sumy, north and center of Kharkiv regions. In the east, the main foci of ice deposits were in Donetsk region. In the center, the foci of such sediments were in the western and central part of Vinnytsia, south-western and central parts of Kirovohrad region, northern Poltava region, south-western and south-eastern part of Dnipropetrovsk region. In the south, the main centers of such deposits were in the north of Odessa region, south of Kherson region, the center of Zaporizhzhia. In the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, mostly ice deposits were in the northern steppe part of the peninsula, as well as in the northern foothills.