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Home > Research by Programs > PEP
Physical Environment Prediction
Task Leader: David Schwab
Highlights
New Bathymetry of the Great Lakes
This has been a decade-long project at GLERL to fully utilize the existing
sounding data held by both the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC
web site) and the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS web site) to produce high quality original
bathymetric maps and data products covering the Laurentian Great Lakes.
Poster bathymetry maps and CD Data ROMs have been published for Lakes
Michigan, Erie, and Ontario.
+ Read more
+ published
maps, CD-ROMs (National Geophysical Data Center web site)
Current Featured Projects
(Full List of GLERL Physical Environment Prediction Program Projects)
Improved Great Lakes Ice Cover Climatology
Historical Great Lakes ice charts were digitized in GLERL's Geographical
Information System Laboratory. The products of this research include over
1,200 electronic ice charts spanning the 1973 to 2002 winter seasons,
computer animations of ice cover for each winter season, lake averaged
ice cover time series for each winter, an analysis of dates of first/last
ice and ice duration each winter, and statistical analysis of ice cover
for 173 overlapping weekly base periods.
+ Read more
+ Great Lakes Ice Atlas
Dynamical Modeling of Great Lakes
Regional Climate
The Coupled Hydrosphere-Atmosphere Research Model (CHARM) was developed
to enable an assessment of the impact of greenhouse warming on the Great
Lakes region. Current plans for the application of CHARM focus on the
effects of land use on climate in our region. Two different sets of experiments
are planned. 1) Compare a model run with an idealized landscape having
two large areas, each with a homogeneous land cover type, to another run
with land cover types arranged in a more heterogeneous fashion. 2) The
second set of experiments will involve the transformation of land cover
through history, and some future projections.
+ Read more
Great Lakes Hydrometeorological Database
This collaborative project was sponsored by the
Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Branch of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, (Detroit USACE web site) and the directory was compiled
by NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (NOAA-GLERL).
The database was created by and is maintained at the Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN web
site). This directory features some 20,000 listings of station characteristics
for over 11,000 hydrological and meteorological stations located throughout
the Great Lakes region. It is intended as a resource for determining period
of record, types of data collected and data availability. The mapping
tool provides a geographic orientation and allows the database to be searched
both by station characteristics and by location.
+ Read more
(GLIN: Great Lakes Hydrometeorological Station Directory web site)
Rogue Waves and Explorations of Coastal
Wave Characteristics
Freak or rogue waves are unusually large waves known to have been observed
in the coastal and open oceans, and hazardous to mariners because of their
size and sudden appearance. As the occurrence of freak waves has been
mostly during unknown and unexpected conditions, available measurement
and analysis have been extremely rare.
+ Read more
+ additional instrumentation
used by GLERL
Data products
Real-time Meteorological Observation Network
GLERL established and maintains a network of five real-time meteorological
stations at exposed coastal sites around southern Lake Michigan: Chicago,
Milwaukee, Kenosha, Saugatuck and Michigan City. GLERL makes observations
from these stations available to NWS forecast offices at Milwaukee, Chicago,
and Grand Rapids in real-time.
+ Read more
+ View Data
Water Level Plots
Great Lakes daily water level plots compared with last years levels; monthly
Min, Max, and Mean levels
+ Read more
Complete Listing of GLERL Data Products
Selected Software products
Derivative Outlook Weights Software
A special-purpose GUI, for using probabilistic meteorology outlooks to
make derivative outlooks. Accompanied by complete updated documentation
in a self-installing file.
+ Read More
+ Download Page
Large Basin Runoff Model Software
A fast, accurate model of weekly or monthly runoff volumes (with a daily
internal computation interval) with relatively simple data requirements.
+ Read More
+ Download Page
Complete Listing of GLERL Software Products
Last updated: 2004-04-09 mbl
Program Background
This program supports research on physical processes in large lakes and the coastal ocean and their relationship to the biology, chemistry, and geochemistry of the ecosystem. This research is used to develop models to identify, forecast, and assist in managing and/or mitigating water quality and natural resource problems. Wind, waves, and thermal structure are primary determinants of water movements, mixing, and circulation in large lakes and (along with tides) in coastal ocean areas. Additionally GLERL conducts studies to identify and improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change and variability on socio-economic frameworks and ecosystem structure and function, including those through intermediate effects such as changes in the water supply of the Great Lakes Basin.
Recent Publications
CROLEY, T. E. II. 2003. Weighted parametric operational hydrology forecasting. Proceedings, World Water and Environmental Resources Congress 2003, Philadelphia, PA, June 23-26, 2003. Environmental Water Resources Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers, 10 pp.
Assel, R.A., K. Cronk, and D. C. Norton. 2003. Recent Trends in Laurentian Great Lakes Ice Cover. Climatic Change 57:185-204.
BELETSKY, D., D. J. SCHWAB, R. P. Roebber, M. J. McCORMICK, G. S. MILLER and J. H. SAYLOR. Modeling wind-driven circulation during the March 1998 sediment resuspension event in Lake Michigan. Journal of Geophysical Research 108(C2):20-1 to 20-13 (2003).
Hawley, N., and R. W. Muzzi. 2003. Observations of nepheloid layers made with an autonomous vertical profiler. Journal of Great Lakes Research 29(1):124-133.
LOFGREN, B.M. Global warming effects on Great Lakes water: more precipitation but less water? Proceedings, 18th Conference on Hydrology, 8th Annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society, Seattle, WA, January 11-15, 2004, 3 pp. 2004.
Selected Brochures
La Nina and the Great Lakes Region
Water Levels in the Great Lakes (PDF)
Episodic Events: Great Lakes Experiment