Evaluating Operational Hydrodynamic Models for Real-time Simulation of Evaporation From Large Lakes

Details

• Journal Title:
  Geophysical Research Letters
• Personal Author:
  Gronewold, A. D. ; Anderson, E. J. ; Smith, J.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; CIGLR (Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research) ; GLERL (Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory)
• Description:
  Methods for simulating evaporative water loss from Earth's large lakes have lagged behind advances in hydrodynamic modeling. Here we explore use of oceanographic models to simulate lake evaporation from a long-term water balance perspective. More specifically, we compare long-term monthly simulations of latent heat flux from two configurations of a current operational hydrodynamic forecasting system (based on the Finite Volume Community Ocean Model, or FVCOM) for the Laurentian Great Lakes. We then compare these simulations to comparable simulations from a legacy conventional lake thermodynamics model, and from a recently developed statistical water balance model. We find that one of the FVCOM configurations that is currently used in operations for short-term hydrodynamic forecast guidance is also suitable for real-time simulation of evaporation from very large lakes. The operational versions of FVCOM should therefore be considered a readily available tool for supporting regional water supply management and, pending further research, extended water supply forecasting.
• Source:
  Geophysical Research Letters, 46(6), 3263-3269.
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl082289
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Rights Information:
  Other
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dcec70ce99bedf84c48cca673c234bbd46c269d619a1b10e004d5412f0779c271de5625d51040ffcac69d7856a00531f67b812542854f4eed9bab63ba806eaa8
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/22179/noaa_22179_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 730.96 KB ]