Response of Ice Cover, Water Level and Thermal Structure Climate Change in Wisconsin Lakes

Alterations in lake physical variables, e.g. ice cover and thermal structure, have been identified from the observations in many lakes and found associated with the warming climate. The overarching theme of the proposed project is to examine physical variables (e.g., ice cover, lake level, and water temperature) responses of lakes to climate change. The specific objectives of the proposed project are to (i) further enhance/develop a physical lake ice/snow model that can continuously simulate water temperature during open water and ice/snow coverage over annual cycles or even decades; (ii) correlate the spatial/temporal trends in long-term lake ice cover, water level, and water temperature with the results obtained by the WICCI‘s historical climate analysis to provide insight/evidence of the effects of climate variability on lakes; and (iii) address the physical/hydrodynamic responses of northern and southern Wisconsin lakes to the future projections of Wisconsin climates provided by the WICCI climate working group.