Lükő et al. (2025) Evaluating Winter Turbulent Heat Fluxes in a Hydrodynamic‐Ice Model of the Great Lakes

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-01
• Authors: Gabriella Lükő, Eric J. Anderson, Christopher Spence, John D. Lenters, Peter D. Blanken, Erin M. Nicholls, Péter Torma
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr040624

Research Groups

Not explicitly mentioned in the abstract, but likely involves institutions focused on Great Lakes research and operational forecasting.

Short Summary

This study evaluates the performance of operational hydrodynamic and ice models in simulating turbulent heat fluxes in the Great Lakes across open water, partial ice, and ice-covered conditions during winter. It finds that while early winter open water fluxes are well modeled, accuracy decreases significantly during ice-covered periods, primarily due to errors in simulated ice thickness.

Objective

• To evaluate the accuracy of turbulent heat flux simulations from operational hydrodynamic and ice models in the Great Lakes under open water, partial ice, and ice-covered conditions, with a focus on winter.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: North American Great Lakes (regional scale).
• Temporal Scale: Winter season, with comparisons to ice-free periods (seasonal to annual scale).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Operational hydrodynamic and ice models (specific names not provided in the abstract).
• Data sources: Observational data from the Great Lakes Evaporation Network, specifically eddy covariance-based turbulent heat fluxes.

Main Results

• Operational models accurately simulate elevated open water turbulent heat fluxes during early winter.
• Modeled fluxes during ice-covered periods show less accuracy, with errors likely linked to inaccuracies in simulated ice thickness.
• Observations indicate that thin ice with many small cracks can lead to high fluxes, comparable to open water, while very thick ice reduces latent fluxes to near zero.
• Existing operational model algorithms show promise for resolving winter lake fluxes but require improvements in underlying ice and hydrodynamic model formulations.

Contributions

• First comprehensive assessment of turbulent heat fluxes in the Great Lakes during winter, including ice-covered conditions, using operational models.
• Identified the critical role of accurate ice thickness simulation for improving modeled turbulent heat fluxes under ice.
• Provided insights for future model development by highlighting the need for adaptations in ice and hydrodynamic model formulations for winter conditions.

Funding

Not explicitly mentioned in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Lükő2025Evaluating,
  author = {Lükő, Gabriella and Anderson, Eric J. and Spence, Christopher and Lenters, John D. and Blanken, Peter D. and Nicholls, Erin M. and Torma, Péter},
  title = {Evaluating Winter Turbulent Heat Fluxes in a Hydrodynamic‐Ice Model of the Great Lakes},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr040624},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr040624}
}