Vessel-based Observations of Meteorological and Evaporation Gradients on the Laurentian Great Lakes

Session: 49. - Big Lakes - Small World: IAGLR Teams with the European Large Lakes Symposium in 2018

Peter Blanken, University of Colorado, [email protected]
Ludovic Bariteau, NOAA-PSD, [email protected]
Dan Wolfe, NOAA-PSD (ret), [email protected]
Christopher Spence, Environment and Climate Change Canada, [email protected]
Newell Hedstrom, Environment and Climate Change Canada, [email protected]
Chris Fairall, NOAA-PSD, [email protected]
John Lenters, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Limnology, [email protected]
Andrew Gronewold, NOAA, GLERL, [email protected]

Abstract

Meteorological and eddy covariance instrumentation were installed atop the foremast of the Canada Steamship Lines’ bulk carrier Whitefish Bay and the CCGS Limnos. Nearly continuous measurements of turbulent fluxes of latent (evaporation) and sensible heat fluxes, CO₂ flux, and associated ancillary measurements such as water temperature, solar radiation, and ship motion (position, speed, pitch, yaw, roll) were collected for the 2017/18 shipping season (March through January). Preliminary results show large, short-term spatial variation in evaporation and its driving factors within and among each of the Great Lakes. The ship-based measurements were compared to lighthouse-based measurements from the Great Lakes Evaporation Network (GLEN), as well as calculations using the COARE algorithm. Results from this study highlight the need for continued ship-borne observations and improved, high-resolution spatial flux measurements across large lakes to capture and understand this high degree of spatial and temporal variability.

1. Keyword
atmosphere-lake interaction

2. Keyword
Great Lakes basin

3. Keyword
micrometeorology

4. Additional Keyword
surface energy balance

5. Additional Keyword
evaporation