A period of continuing low water conditions across the upper Laurentian Great Lakes since the mid 2000s has highlighted the importance of good water cycle measurements over the region. The International Joint Commission has recommended strengthening hydroclimatic monitoring and modelling in the upper Great Lakes Basin. A growing Laurentian Great Lakes Evaporation Network will be used to estimate evaporation rates, research evaporation processes, evaluate American and Canadian operational hydrometeorological models, and support adaptive management of water levels of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Partners in the network include Environment Canada, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Universities of Colorado and Nebraska, and the National Science Foundation.

Success with using observation stations on Lakes Superior and Huron to estimate evaporation rates and improve operational hydrometeorological models in both the United States and Canada during the International Upper Great Lakes Study has led to an extension and expansion of observations to include six more sites. During the first week of May 2011, Environment Canada’s Christopher Spence and Newell Hedstrom installed instrumentation at the Long Point Lighthouse to estimate evaporation from Lake Erie. Other current and proposed sites (and respective lakes) include Stannard Rock Light (Superior), Granite Island (Superior), Spectacle Reef Light (Huron), White Shoal Light (Michigan), Wolfe Island (Ontario), and an Environment Canada wave tower (Ontario).

Contact: Chris Spence, 306-975-6907, Chris.Spence@ec.gc.ca, Watershed Hydrology and Ecology Research Division