Intra-Annual and Interannual Dynamics of Evaporation Over Western Lake Erie

Details

• Journal Title:
  Earth and Space Science
• Personal Author:
  Shao, Changliang ; Chen, Jiquan ; Chu, Housen ; Stepien, Carol A. ; Ouyang, Zutao
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory)
• Description:
  Evaporation (E) is a critical component of the water and energy budget in lake systems yet is challenging to quantify directly and continuously. We examined the magnitude and changes of E and its drivers over Lake Erie—the shallowest and most southern lake of the Laurentian Great Lakes. We deployed two eddy-covariance tower sites in the western Lake Erie Basin—one located nearshore (CB) and one offshore (LI)—from September 2011 through May 2016. Monthly E varied from 5 to 120 mm, with maximum E occurring in August–October. The annual E was 635 ± 42 (±SD) mm at CB and 604 ± 32 mm at LI. Mean winter (October–March) E was 189 ± 61 mm at CB and 178 ± 25 mm at LI, accounting for 29.8% and 29.4% of annual E. Mean daily E was 1.8 mm during the coldest month (January) and 7.4 mm in the warmest month (July). Monthly E exhibited a strong positive linear relationship to the product of wind speed and vapor pressure deficit. Pronounced seasonal patterns in surface energy fluxes were observed with a 2-month lag in E from Rn, due to the lake's heat storage. This lag was shorter than reports regarding other Great Lakes. Difference in E between the offshore and nearshore sites reflected within-lake spatial heterogeneity, likely attributable to climatic and bathymetric differences between them. These findings suggest that predictive models need to consider lake-specific heat storage and spatial heterogeneity in order to accurately simulate lake E and its seasonal dynamics.
• Keywords:
  Evaporation Evaporation Extreme Climate Great Lakes Ice Cover Latent Heat Flux Penman Model
• Source:
  Earth and Space Science, 7(11)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001091
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Erie, Lake
• Rights Information:
  CC BY
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:8334ba8964ffdfdab6922eadb1d3e9ddcdcff1496fe3044e0d006aa0b69fc768
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/29038/noaa_29038_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.72 MB ]