Spence et al. (2026) Ship-Borne Eddy Covariance Systems Identify Turbulent Flux Boundaries on the Laurentian Great Lakes

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

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Hydrometeorology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-22
• Authors: Christopher Spence, Newell Hedstrom, Peter D. Blanken, John D. Lenters, Erin M. Nicholls
• DOI: 10.1175/jhm-d-26-0011.1

Research Groups

• Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto
• Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor

Short Summary

This study uses ship-borne eddy-covariance-derived turbulent flux measurements to reveal the presence of evaporation zones in large lakes and their implications for estimating evaporation.

Objective

• Investigate the spatial variability in lake-atmosphere energy exchanges using ship-borne observations.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Large lakes (e.g., Laurentian Great Lakes)
• Temporal Scale: Seasonal, with a focus on summer months

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Eddy-covariance technique for turbulent flux measurements
• Data sources: Ship-borne observations, atmospheric conditions, surface water temperatures

Main Results

• Evaporation zones are identified as contiguous areas of upward latent heat fluxes separated by turbulent flux boundaries.
• Boundaries migrate with time due to changes in atmospheric conditions and surface water temperatures.
• The entire lake area begins to evaporate as it warms through summer.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the spatial dynamics of lake-atmosphere energy exchanges, which can improve evaporation estimation and predictive modeling of lake levels and ecosystems.

Funding

• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant RGPIN-2018-05717
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program

Citation

@article{Spence2026ShipBorne,
  author = {Spence, Christopher and Hedstrom, Newell and Blanken, Peter D. and Lenters, John D. and Nicholls, Erin M.},
  title = {Ship-Borne Eddy Covariance Systems Identify Turbulent Flux Boundaries on the Laurentian Great Lakes},
  journal = {Journal of Hydrometeorology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1175/jhm-d-26-0011.1},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1175/jhm-d-26-0011.1}
}