A long-term temperature and ice cover data base was created together with a computer program to display and analyze different aspects of normal temperature and ice cover in the Great Lakes. 'Normal' refers to long-term averages over the annual cycle. The daily normal surface temperature of each of the Great Lakes was derived from remotely sensed data acquired by the Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service (AES) and by NOAA. Normal ice cover maps, from the NOAA Great Lakes Ice Atlas, were interpolated to yield daily patterns and converted to a Mercator projection with a 2.5 km grid resolution used for the satellite-derived surface temperature maps.

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