Temperature Profiles in Lake Redman

by Stacia Gorniak

Submitted : Spring 2010

The thermocline of the lake is an area where the temperature of the water rises dramatically of which the depth is seasonally changing. One can estimate the depth of the thermocline as well as predict values for the lake at certain depths all year long through use of an equation for the temperature as a function of depth and time. By setting the second derivative of the equation of T(y,t) equal to zero, the formula for determining the depth of the Lake's thermocline can be calculated. An estimated value of the thermocline's depth is used to solve for the eddy diffusivity constant and allowed for numbers to be plugged into the temperature function. After that, the projected values are visually compared against the actual values taken from the lake. While the temperature function does not appear to be the most accurate, through the values that were obtained, the predicted thermocline depth seems to be more reliable.

[ Back ]