The Great Lakes Evaporation Network (GLEN): More than just evaporation

John D Lenters, University of Michigan Biological Station, Ann Arbor, United States, Peter Blanken, University of Colorado Boulder, Geography, Boulder, United States, Christopher Spence, Environment Canada Saskatoon, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, Andrew Gronewold, University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability, Ann Arbor, United States, Branko Kerkez, University of Michigan, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, Norma Froelich, Northern Michigan University, Chelsea, MI, United States and Wendy Leger, Environment Canada, Burlington, ON, Canada

Contact First Author: John D Lenters; jlenters@umich.edu

Abstract ID#: 34991

 

English Abstract:
The North American Great Lakes constitute the largest freshwater surface in the world. Beginning in the late 1990s – a period that commenced with a strong El Niño event – the Great Lakes experienced a regime shift in winter ice cover and summer water temperatures that resulted in higher summer evaporation rates, followed shortly thereafter by a dramatic decline in water levels. Recent research suggests that evaporation rates over the lakes have, for the most part, remained high since then, due primarily to warmer summer water temperatures and an earlier start to the evaporation season. On the other hand, cold, high-ice winters such as 2013-14 cause occasional deviations from this trend, highlighting the large interannual variability in the Great Lakes system and the continued need for long-term observations. A growing ensemble of in situ measurements – including offshore eddy flux towers, buoy-based sensors, and vessel-based platforms – are being deployed through an ongoing, bi-national collaboration to reduce uncertainties in the Great Lakes water balance, provide a more robust basis for short- and long-term projections, and fill a significant gap in over-lake flux measurements and related meteorological data. Here, we provide an overview of this initiative, known as the Great Lakes Evaporation Network (GLEN). Although the network was initiated in response to the need for improved estimates of Great Lakes evaporation, it is intended to be of utility for a wide range of applied and basic research needs – not just evaporation and water levels. As such, we provide an overview of the latest data collection efforts, the current and planned array of instrumentation and platforms, and the network of heat, moisture, carbon flux, and meteorological observations that are likely to be of interest to research scientists, operational forecasters, commercial shipping, recreational boaters, and other stakeholders in the Great Lakes community.
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