Parameterization of Lakes and Wetlands for Energy and Water Balance Studies in the Great Lakes Region*

Abstract

Lakes and wetlands are prevalent around the Great Lakes and play an important role in the regional water and energy cycle. However, simulating their impacts on regional-scale hydrology is still a major challenge and not widely attempted. In the present study, the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model is applied and evaluated with a physically based lake and wetland algorithm, which can simulate the effect of lakes and wetlands on the grid cell energy and water balance. The VIC model was calibrated at 10 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stream gauging stations against daily streamflow records for the period of 1985-95, and successfully evaluated for the period of 1996-2005. Single-grid sensitivity experiments showed that runoff, baseflow, and inundation area were sensitive to the lake model parameters. Simulations were also conducted to analyze the spatial and temporal variability of inundation area for the period of 1985-2005. Results indicated that water and energy fluxes were substantially affected when lakes and wetlands were included in model simulations. Domain-averaged annual mean evapotranspiration (ET) was increased by 5% while annual mean total runoff was decreased by 12% with lakes and wetlands. Latent heat flux increased while sensible heat flux decreased because of the inclusion of lakes and wetlands.

Development and evaluation of a global dynamical wetlands extent scheme

“…They are commonly expected to regulate river flow, mitigate flood events and recharge groundwater. These observations are consistent with a modelling study by Mishra et al (2010) who found decreased surface runoff in wetland dominated regions. However, a number of studies exists that describe the opposite behaviour (Bullock and Acreman, 2003).…”

“…The effect of open water surfaces on the energy and water balance was investigated by several modelling studies, e.g. Bonan (1995) and Mishra et al (2010), who reported a significant impact of wetlands on the local climate. Generally, they found a cooling of the surface temperature in wetland dominated regions due to increased evapotranspiration (ET), as well as an increase in the latent heat flux and a decrease in the sensible heat flux.…”

Assessment of climate change on the future water levels of the Iberá wetlands, Argentina, during the twenty-first century

“…The Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrology model (Liang et al 1994,1996, Bowling and Lettenmaier 2010, Mishra et al 2010 (Saurral et al 2008, Su and Lettenmaier 2009, Saurral 2010) and the Iberá wetlands , Grimson et al 2013). …”

Changing thermal dynamics of lakes in the Great Lakes region: Role of ice cover feedbacks

“…In the study region, many inland lakes of relatively smaller size than that of Great Lakes are present. The size of lakes included in this study vary from 0.01 to 557 km 2 while the depth of lakes vary from 0.3 to 91.4 m as described in Mishra et al (2010). Seasonal lake ice forms on all lakes in the region, with the number of ice-free days ranging from 140 in the north to 230 in the south (Magnuson et al, 1997).…”

“…Six parameters related to infiltration, runoff and baseflow generation were adjusted during the model calibration (as described in Mishra et al, 2010), while other variables not available from the CONUS-SOIL dataset were set to the default values used for the VIC model within the Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) (Maurer et al, 2002).…”