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Using GIS to Estimate Lake Volume from Limited Data (Lake and Reservoir Management)
Citation:
HOLLISTER, J. W. AND W. B. MILSTEAD. Using GIS to Estimate Lake Volume from Limited Data (Lake and Reservoir Management). LAKE AND RESERVOIR MANAGEMENT. North American Lake Management Society, Madison, WI, 26(3):194-199, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
A component of the US EPA’s Ecosystem Services Research Program is to understand aquatic services provided in Northeastern lakes and ponds. Much of the research centered on these services relies upon modeled estimates of nutrients and other stressors. Lake volume is a key component of many of these models and better estimates of lake volume based on limited data, which is often the case with broad scale studies of lakes, results in better modeled estimates. Thus, we expect this research note to have the following four impacts. First, the method we discuss improves upon current methods for estimating lake volume when only limited data is available and will improve our ability to model key processes related to nutrients in Northeastern Freshwater systems. Second, as part of a larger effort to predict maximum lake depths this method is a key part of our attempt to estimate lake volume for all lakes in the Northeastern United States. Expanding the scope of our research, as allowed by these methods, provides us the ability to model ecosystem services related to Nutrients to all lakes and not just lakes for which field data exist. Third, the estimates resulting for this work will impact other federal modeling efforts and USGS has expressed interest in including the lake volume estimates that result from this work in future calibrations of the SPARROW model. Lastly, although not in and of itself reproducible research (RR), this research note follows the major tenets of reproducible research as the R-script, detailed results and data to test the script are all included as online supplementary material. Following the tenets of RR, provide a great deal of transparency to our work that can validate out overall approach and lend greater accountability to our work.
Description:
Estimates of lake volume are necessary for calculating residence time and modeling pollutants. Modern GIS methods for calculating lake volume improve upon more dated technologies (e.g. planimeters) and do not require potentially inaccurate assumptions (e.g. volume of a frustum of a cone), but most GIS methods do require detailed bathymetric data which may be unavailable. GIS technology cannot correct for a lack of data; however, it can facilitate development of methods that better use limited data. In this research note we describe a method to model bathymetry and estimate the volume of a lake with a limited set of data that consists only of a maximum depth measurement and a GIS layer of lake shoreline. Using a simple linear transformation, we estimate depth as a function of distance from shoreline and with the resultant information estimate lake volume. We applied and compared this method with estimates derived from field bathymetry data of 129 lakes in New Hampshire. In New Hampshire lakes, the assumption of depth as a function of distance is appropriate and the simple GIS method has lower overall error than simply using the formula for volume of a cone to estimate lake volume. This approach has broad implications in the assessment of lake condition from national surveys (e.g. USEPA’s National Lakes Assessment) and should improve upon models of nutrients, contaminants, and hydrology even in the absence of detailed bathymetric data.