Articles | Volume 9, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1977-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1977-2016
Model description paper
 | 
30 May 2016
Model description paper |  | 30 May 2016

LAKE 2.0: a model for temperature, methane, carbon dioxide and oxygen dynamics in lakes

Victor Stepanenko, Ivan Mammarella, Anne Ojala, Heli Miettinen, Vasily Lykosov, and Timo Vesala

Abstract. A one-dimensional (1-D) model for an enclosed basin (lake) is presented, which reproduces temperature, horizontal velocities, oxygen, carbon dioxide and methane in the basin. All prognostic variables are treated in a unified manner via a generic 1-D transport equation for horizontally averaged property. A water body interacts with underlying sediments. These sediments are represented by a set of vertical columns with heat, moisture and CH4 transport inside. The model is validated vs. a comprehensive observational data set gathered at Kuivajärvi Lake (southern Finland), demonstrating a fair agreement. The value of a key calibration constant, regulating the magnitude of methane production in sediments, corresponded well to that obtained from another two lakes. We demonstrated via surface seiche parameterization that the near-bottom turbulence induced by surface seiches is likely to significantly affect CH4 accumulation there. Furthermore, our results suggest that a gas transfer through thermocline under intense internal seiche motions is a bottleneck in quantifying greenhouse gas dynamics in dimictic lakes, which calls for further research.

Download
Short summary
A 1-D lake model is presented, reproducing temperature, oxygen, carbon dioxide and methane. All prognostic variables are treated in unified manner via generic 1-D transport equation. The model is validated vs. comprehensive observational data set gathered at Kuivajärvi Lake (Finland). Our results suggest that a gas transfer through thermocline under intense seiche motions is a bottleneck in quantifying greenhouse gas dynamics in dimictic lakes, calling for further research.