The Impact of Episodic Events on Nearshore-Offshore Transport
in the Great Lakes:
Meteorological Modeling Program
P. Roebber
The objective of the proposed research is to accurately describe the
overwater wind field to be used as input for circulation modeling of
Lake Michigan for identified episodic transport events during the the
retrospective period and the two field years of the program. The study
will test the hypothesis that the generation of cross-isobath transport
of material in Lake Michigan is an episodic response to storm events
that occur during a critical time brought about by seasonal
preconditioning of the dynamic-thermodynamic structure of the lake.
The methods to be employed involve a combination of meteorological
observational and modeling procedures which will generate and then
validate wind fields across a range of horizontal resolutions. The
results of this study will, in conjunction with the other elements of
the physical research program, establish the dynamic nature of this form
of episodic transport in Lake Michigan. Research and educational
benefits from this portion of the program will include an enhanced
understanding of the boundary layer dynamics of the Lake Michigan region
(land-ice-water boundaries and their effect on the mesoscale structures
of storm systems) and further insight into the nature of the interaction
between seasonal and high-frequency processes.