FLake-Global

FLake-Global is an online modelling system that allows you to run the FLake model online and calculate the temperature and mixing pattern in any shallow freshwater lake around the world. A detailed explanations is provided for the input parameter and output parameter

FLake-Global can help answer many frequently asked questions about lakes such as "what is the typical surface temperature in the lake ZZ at the day YY of the month XX?", "does the lake freeze in winter?" This tool can be of practical interest for researchers looking for information about the lake temperature evolution, fishermen, anglers, divers interested in the vertical position of the thermocline, and anyone who plans to spend holidays at an outlying lake in unpopulated area and wants to know if the water temperature will be good for bathing during that time

Lake location

Enter the lake coordinates or pick a point representing the lake from the map below

Latitude

Decimal degree between -90 ad 90

Longitude

Decimal degree between -180 ad 180

Lake characteristics

Lake mean depth

Find the mean depth in the GLDB and HydroLAKES databases

Water type

Lake Fetch

maximum length of open water the wind can travel; you can use the lake length; in m

Simulation settings

Simulation type

Most recent lake response

This option runs a simulation using meteorological data from 16/08/2020 to 16/08/2021 and allows estimation of lake response in the last year

Perpetual year

This option runs a simulation over a hydrological year (from October to September) using meteorological data from 01/10/2015 to 30/09/2016. The simulation is repeated up to 25 years until it reaches a quasi-stationary state. This is useful to get a general idea how the lake may respond, if no measurements are available

Set model initial conditions

With this simulation type, you must set the lake initial conditions. These are automatically set based on the lake location and the date when the simulation starts (16/08/2020). Otherwise, if you know these on 16/08/2020, you can set them manually.

The model initial conditions must refer to 16/08/2020

Initial temperature of the mixed layer

deg C

Initial mean temperature of the water column

deg C

Initial temperature of the bottom layer

deg C

Initial thickness of the mixed layer

Initial ice thickness

Meteorological data from:National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Weather Service/NOAA/U.S. Department of Commerce (2015), NCEP GDAS/FNL 0.25 Degree Global Tropospheric Analyses and Forecast Grids, https://doi.org/10.5065/D65Q4T4Z, Research Data Archive at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Computational and Information Systems Laboratory, Boulder, Colo. (Updated daily.)

We take no responsibility for the model results. Please remember that this online version relies on a simplified configuration and aims at providing only a rough overview of the real processes in lakes. Do not make any important decisions based on the model results. The model is free for non-commercial use. Contact us if you apply the model in your research, education, hobby etc.