scholarly journals Climatic Effects on Lake Basins. Part I: Modeling Tropical Lake Levels

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 2983-2999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Ricko ◽  
James A. Carton ◽  
Charon Birkett
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Tropical Lakes ◽  
Freshwater Flux ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Seasonal Forecasts ◽  
Climatic Effects ◽  
Lakes And Reservoirs ◽  
Lake Systems ◽  
Observation Period

Abstract The availability of satellite estimates of rainfall and lake levels offers exciting new opportunities to estimate the hydrologic properties of lake systems. Combined with simple basin models, connections to climatic variations can then be explored with a focus on a future ability to predict changes in storage volume for water resources or natural hazards concerns. This study examines the capability of a simple basin model to estimate variations in water level for 12 tropical lakes and reservoirs during a 16-yr remotely sensed observation period (1992–2007). The model is constructed with two empirical parameters: effective catchment to lake area ratio and time delay between freshwater flux and lake level response. Rainfall datasets, one reanalysis and two satellite-based observational products, and two radar-altimetry-derived lake level datasets are explored and cross checked. Good agreement is observed between the two lake level datasets with the lowest correlations occurring for the two small lakes Kainji and Tana (0.87 and 0.89). Fitting observations to the simple basin model provides a set of delay times between rainfall and level rise ranging up to 105 days and effective catchment to lake ratios ranging between 2 and 27. For 9 of 12 lakes and reservoirs the observational rainfall products provide a better fit to observed lake levels than the reanalysis rainfall product. But for most of the records any of the rainfall products provide reasonable lake level estimates, a result which opens up the possibility of using rainfall to create seasonal forecasts of future lake levels and hindcasts of past lake levels. The limitations of the observation sets and the two-parameter model are discussed.

scholarly journals Detecting Lake Level Change From 1992 to 2019 of Zhari Namco in Tibet Using Altimetry Data of TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1/2/3 Missions

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingzhi Sun ◽  
Jinyun Guo ◽  
Jiajia Yuan ◽  
Xin Liu ◽  
Haihong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Altimeter Data ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Waveform Retracking ◽  
Gauge Data ◽  
Delay Correction

Zhari Namco, a large lake in the Tibetan Plateau (TP), is sensitive to climate and environmental change. However, it is difficult to retrieve accurate and continuous lake levels for Zhari Namco. A robust strategy, including atmospheric delay correction, waveform retracking, outlier deletion, and inter-satellite adjustment, is proposed to generate a long-term series of lake levels for Zhari Namco through multi-altimeter data. Apparent biases are found in troposphere delay correction from different altimeter products and adjusted using an identical model. The threshold (20%) algorithm is employed for waveform retracking. The two-step method combining a sliding median filter and 2σ criterion is used to eliminate outliers. Tandem mission data of altimeters are used to estimate inter-satellite bias. Finally, a 27-year-long lake level time series of Zhari Namco are constructed using the TOPEX/Poseidon-Jason1/2/3 (T/P-Jason1/2/3) altimeter data from 1992 to 2019, resulting in an accuracy of 10.1 cm for T/P-Jason1/2/3. Temperature, precipitation, lake area, equivalent water height, and in situ gauge data are used for validation. The correlation coefficient more than 0.90 can be observed between this result and in situ gauge data. Compared with previous studies and existing database products, our method yields sequences with the best observational quality and the longest continuous monitoring in Zhari Namco. The time series indicates that the lake level in Zhari Namco has increased by ∼ 5.7 m, with an overall trend of 0.14 ± 0.01 m/yr, showing a fluctuating rate (1992–1999: −0.25 ± 0.05 m/yr, 2000–2008: 0.26 ± 0.04 m/yr, 2009–2016: −0.05 ± 0.03 m/yr, 2017–2019: 1.34 ± 0.34 m/yr). These findings will enhance the understanding of water budget and the effect of climate change in the TP.

scholarly journals Variations in Lake Levels during the Holocene in North America: An Indicator of Changes in Atmospheric Circulation Patterns

2007 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Harrison ◽  
S. E. Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Relative Depth ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Lake Status

ABSTRACT Fluctuations in the extent of closed lakes provide a detailed record of regional and continental variations in mean annual water budget. The temporal sequence of hydrological fluctuations during the Holocene in North America has been reconstructed using information from the Oxford Lake-Level Data Bank. This data base includes 67 basins from the Americas north of the equator. Maps of lake status, an index of relative depth, are presented for the period 10,000 to 0 yr BP. The early Holocene was characterised by increasingly arid conditions, which led to widespread low lake levels in the mid-latitudes by 9,000 yr BP. By 6,000 yr BP this zone of low lakes extended from 32o to 51oN. Many of the features of the present day lake-level pattern, particularly high lake levels north of 46oN and along the eastern seaboard, were established by 3.000 yr BP. Four distinctive regional patterns of lake behaviour through time are apparent. Histograms of lake status from 20,000 to 0 yr BP are presented for each of these regions. They illustrate the temporal patterns of lake-level fluctuations on a time scale of 103 — 104 yr. Changes in lake status over North America are interpreted as indicating displacements in major features of the general circulation, specifically the zonal Westerlies and the Equatorial Trough, as reflected by changes in air mass trajectories and hence the position of air mass boundaries over the continent.

Cosmogenic10Be dating of raised shorelines constrains the timing of lake levels in the eastern Lake Agassiz-Ojibway basin

2017 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Marc Godbout ◽  
Martin Roy ◽  
Jean J. Veillette ◽  
Joerg M. Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Lake Agassiz ◽  
Cosmogenic Isotopes ◽  
Exposure Dating ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
Lake Stage ◽  
Lake Ojibway

AbstractSurface exposure dating was applied to erosional shorelines associated with the Angliers lake level that marks an important stage of Lake Ojibway. The distribution of 1510Be ages from five sites shows a main group (10 samples) of coherent10Be ages yielding a mean age of 9.9±0.7 ka that assigns the development of this lake level to the early part of the Lake Ojibway history. A smaller group (3 samples) is part of a more scattered distribution of older10Be ages (with 2 outliers) that points to an inheritance of cosmogenic isotopes from a previous exposure, revealing an apparent mean age of 15.8±0.9 ka that is incompatible with the Ojibway inundation and the regional deglaciation. Our results provide the first direct10Be chronology on the sequence of lake levels in the Ojibway basin, which includes the lake stage presumably associated with the confluence and subsequent drainage of Lakes Agassiz and Ojibway. This study demonstrates the potential of this approach to date glacial lake shorelines and underlies the importance of obtaining additional chronological constraints on the Agassiz-Ojibway shoreline sequence to confidently assign a particular lake stage and/or lake-level drawdown to a specific time interval of the deglaciation.

Quantifying recent lake level changes in Patagonia (Argentina and Chile): Back to the future?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Ariztegui ◽  
Clément Pollier ◽  
Andrés Bilmes
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Water Level Fluctuations ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
The Past ◽  
Rainfall Variations ◽  
The Impact

<p>Lake levels in hydrologically closed-basins are very sensitive to climatically and/or anthropogenically triggered environmental changes. Their record through time can provide valuable information to forecast changes that can have substantial economical and societal impact.</p><p>Increasing precipitation in eastern Patagonia (Argentina) have been documented following years with strong El Niño (cold) events using historical and meteorological data. Quantifying changes in modern lake levels allow determining the impact of rainfall variations while contributing to anticipate the evolution of lacustrine systems over the next decades with expected fluctuations in ENSO frequencies. Laguna Carrilaufquen Grande is located in the intermontane Maquinchao Basin, Argentina. Its dimension fluctuates greatly, from 20 to 55 km<sup>2</sup> water surface area and an average water depth of 3 m. Several well-preserved gravelly beach ridges witness rainfall variations that can be compared to meteorological data and satellite images covering the last ~50 years. Our results show that in 2016 lake level was the lowest of the past 44 years whereas the maximum lake level was recorded in 1985 (+11.8 m above the current lake level) in a position 1.6 km to the east of the present shoreline. A five-years moving average rainfall record of the area was calculated smoothing the extreme annual events and correlated to the determined lake level fluctuations. The annual variation of lake levels was up to 1.2 m (e.g. 2014) whereas decadal variations related to humid-arid periods for the interval 2002 to 2016 were up to 9.4 m. These data are consistent with those from other monitored lakes and, thus, our approach opens up new perspectives to understand the historical water level fluctuations of lakes with non-available monitoring data.</p><p> </p><p>Laguna de los Cisnes in the Chilean section of the island of Tierra del Fuego, is a closed-lake presently divided into two sections of 2.2 and 11.9 km<sup>2</sup>, respectively. These two water bodies were united in the past forming a single larger lake. The lake level was  ca. 4 m higher than today as shown by clear shorelines and the outcropping of large Ca-rich microbialites. Historical data, aerial photographs and satellite images indicate that the most recent changes in lake level are the result of a massive decrease of water input during the last half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century triggered by an indiscriminate use of the incoming water for agricultural purposes. The spectacular outcropping of living and fossil microbialites is not only interesting from a scientific point of view but has also initiated the development of the site as a local touristic attraction. However, if the use of the incoming water for agriculture in the catchment remains unregulated the lake water level might drop dangerously and eventually the lake might fully desiccate.</p><p>These two examples illustrate how recent changes in lake level can be used to anticipate the near future of lakes. They show that ongoing climate changes along with the growing demand of natural resources have already started to impact lacustrine systems and this is likely to increase in the decades to come.</p>

scholarly journals Optical Stimulation Luminescence Dating of Deltas Revealed the Early to Mid-Holocene Lake-level Fluctuations of Daihai, Inner Mongolia, Northern China

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shixin Huang ◽  
Xi Chun
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Luminescence Dating ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Monsoon Precipitation ◽  
Lake Level Fluctuations

Lake-level reconstruction of inland enclosed lakes especially for monsoon-sensitive areas is of great significance to reveal regional climate changes. Daihai, a typical enclosed lake at the marginal of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) area in north China, is sensitive to climate changes due to its unique regional characteristics. There were a series of lakeshore terraces, highstand lacustrine sediments, and braided river deltas, providing sufficient geomorphologic and stratigraphic evidence for the reconstruction of lake-level fluctuations of Daihai. Reconstructed lake-level variations during the early and mid-Holocene were constructed based on 22 quartz optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from six well-preserved profiles around Daihai Basin. Our results indicated Daihai showed a relatively low level at 10.2 ka, and a gradually increasing lake level following the enhanced monsoon precipitation during the mid-Holocene. Specifically, the high lake level began to develop at 8.1 ka and reached the maximum at 5.2 ka, with ∼40 m higher than present. At this time, the lake area expanded to ∼400 km2, approximately six times as large as that of present, corresponding to the maximum monsoon precipitation and intensity of EASM during the mid-Holocene. However, our stratigraphic records showed a part of the depositional records in the north and east of the Daihai was missed after 5.2 ka, probably indicating a sudden drop of the Daihai lake level. These rapid level fluctuations were likely to be interpreted by some local scenarios and need to be further investigated in the future. Overall, the lake-level fluctuation of Daihai during the early and mid-Holocene was slightly different from that observed in the previously published regional records. Possibly, the interaction of the EASM and regional feedback from topography, and hydrology factors might have contributed to the spatial complexity and distinction.

Lake Levels and Sedimentary Environments During Deposition of the Trego Hot Springs and Wono Tephras in the Lake Lahontan Basin, Nevada, USA

2010 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth D. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Hot Springs ◽  
Silty Clay ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Sediment Sources ◽  
Sedimentary Environments ◽  
Depositional Settings ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Predictable Pattern ◽  
Lake Size

The Wono and Trego Hot Springs (THS) tephras are widespread in the Lahontan basin and have been identified in a variety of sedimentary environments at different elevations. Davis (1983) reported lake level to be at about 1256 m when the THS tephra was deposited, an interpretation questioned by Benson et al. (1997) who interpreted lake level to be ≤1177 m at that time. This is a significant difference in lake size with important implications for interpreting the climate that prevailed at that time. Based on new interpretations of depositional settings of the THS bed at multiple sites, the larger lake size is correct. Additional sites containing the Wono tephra indicate that it was deposited when lake level was at about 1217 m in the western subbasins and at about 1205 m in the Carson Sink. Sedimentary features associated with progressively deeper paleowater depths follow a predictable pattern that is modulated by proximity to sediment sources and local slope. Fine to coarse sands with wave-formed features are commonly associated with relatively shallow water. Silty clay or clay dominates in paleowater depths >25 m, with thin laminae of sand and ostracods at sites located adjacent to or downslope from steep mountain fronts.

scholarly journals Tracking Lake and Reservoir Changes in the Nenjiang Watershed, Northeast China: Patterns, Trends, and Drivers

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1108
Author(s):  
Baojia Du ◽  
Zongming Wang ◽  
Dehua Mao ◽  
Huiying Li ◽  
Hengxing Xiang
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Reservoir Area ◽  
Cropland Area ◽  
Multi Temporal ◽  
Lakes And Reservoirs ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Sustainable Protection

In terms of evident climate change and human activities, investigating changes in lakes and reservoirs is critical for sustainable protection of water resources and ecosystem management over the Nenjiang watershed (NJW), an eco-sensitive semi-arid region and the third-largest inland waterbody cluster in China. In this study, we established a multi-temporal dataset documenting lake and reservoir (area ≥ 1 km2) changes in this region using an object-oriented image classification method and Landsat series images from 1980 to 2015. Using the structural equation model (SEM), we analyzed the diverse impacts of climatic and anthropogenic variables on lake changes. Results indicated that lakes experienced significant changes with fluctuations over the past 35 years including obvious declines in the total area (by 42%) and number (by 51%) from 1980 to 2010 and a slight increase in the total lake area and number from 2010 to 2015. More than 235 lakes in the size class of 1–10 km2 decreased to small lakes (area < 1 km2), while 59 lakes covering 243.75 km2 disappeared. Total reservoir area and number had continuous increases during the investigated 35 years, with an areal expansion of 54.9% from 919 km2 to 1422 km2, and a number increase by 65.3% from 78 to 129. The SEM revealed that the lake area in the NJW had a significant correlation with the mean annual precipitation (MAP), suggesting that the MAP decline clarified most of the lake shrinkage in the NJW. Furthermore, agricultural consumption of water had potential impacts on lake changes, suggested by the significant relationship between cropland area and lake area.

scholarly journals Multivariate framework for the assessment of key forcing to Lake Malawi level variations in non-stationary frequency analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 192 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cosmo Ngongondo ◽  
Yanlai Zhou ◽  
Chong-Yu Xu
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Lake Malawi ◽  
Extreme Value ◽  
Information Criteria ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Water Evaporation ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole Mode

Abstract Lake Malawi in south eastern Africa is a very important freshwater system for the socio-economic development of the riparian countries and communities. The lake has however experienced considerable recession in the levels in recent years. Consequently, frequency analyses of the lake levels premised on time-invariance (or stationarity) in the parameters of the underlying probability distribution functions (pdfs) can no longer be assumed. In this study, the role of hydroclimate forcing factors (rainfall, lake evaporation, and inflowing discharge) and low frequency climate variability indicators (e.g., El Nino Southern Oscillation-ENSO and the Indian Ocean Dipole Mode-IODM) on lake level variations is investigated using a monthly mean lake level dataset from 1899 to 2017. Non-stationarity in the lake levels was tested and confirmed using the Mann-Kendall trend test (α = 0.05 level) for the first moment and the F test for the second moment (α = 0.05 level). Change points in the series were identified using the Mann-Whitney-Pettit test. The study also compared stationary and non-stationary lake level frequency during 1961 to 2004, the common period where data were available for all the forcing factors considered. Annual maximum series (AMS) and peak over threshold (POT) analysis were conducted by fitting various candidate extreme value distributions (EVD) and parameter fitting methods. The Akaike information criteria (AIC), Bayesian information criteria (BIC), deviance information criteria (DIC), and likelihood ratios (RL) served as model evaluation criteria. Under stationary conditions, the AMS when fitted to the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution with maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) was found to be superior to POT analysis. For the non-stationary models, open water evaporation as a covariate of the lake levels with the GEV and MLE was found to have the most influence on the lake level variations as compared with rainfall, discharge, and the low frequency climatic forcing. The results are very critical in flood zoning especially with various planned infrastructural developments around the lakeshore.

scholarly journals Use of 222Rn and δ18O-δ2H Isotopes in Detecting the Origin of Water and in Quantifying Groundwater Inflow Rates in an Alarmingly Growing Lake, Ethiopia

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2591
Author(s):  
Seifu Kebede ◽  
Samson Zewdu
Keyword(s):  
Lake Area ◽  
Flow Paths ◽  
Groundwater Inflow ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Excess Water ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
Practical Engineering ◽  
Stable Isotopes Of Water ◽  
Lake Systems ◽  
Large Farms

Dual Radon (222Rn) and δ18O-δ2H isotopes were utilized to (a) detect the origin of water, (b) pinpoint groundwater inflow zones and (c) determine rates of groundwater inflows in an expanding lake in central Ethiopia. The lake area expanded from 2 km2 to 50 km2 over the last 60 years, causing serious engineering and socio-economic challenge (inundation of urban utilities, irrigation farms, railways and roads; ecological changes in the lake; and threatening water salinization for water users downstream). Commensurate with the changes in volume, there was a change in salinity of the lake from a hypersaline (TDS 50 g/L) to a near freshwater (3 g/L) condition. 222Rn is powerful in pinpointing sites of groundwater inflows and determining groundwater inflow rates in lake systems with non-hydrologic steady-state conditions. The 222Rn method is complemented by the use of the stable isotopes of water (δ18O-δ2H pair). The δ18O-δ2H isotopes were used to discriminate the source of the water responsible for the expansion of the lake. The results show that the main source of water responsible for the expansion of the lake is the irrigation of excess water joining the lake through subsurface flow paths. The fast and voluminous flow is aided by a dense network of faults and by seismically induced modern ground-cracks that enhance the transmissivity of the aquifers to as high as 15,000 m2/day. The 222Rn mass balance shows the groundwater inflow rate is estimated at 4.6 m3/s. This is comparable with the 4.9 m3/s annual seepage loss from three large farms in the area. This work adds to the meager literature in the use of 222Rn in lake-groundwater interaction studies by demonstrating the capability of the method in addressing a practical engineering and socio-economic challenges.

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