1966/05/15 by George W. Platzman · 1 voice
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations #Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes #Ocean Waves and Remote Sensing
paper · doi:10.1029/jz071i010p02471
openalex publication_date 1966/05/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The daily variation of lake level is computed from 6 months' hourly data at several gage locations on Lake Erie. The dominant characteristic of this variation is a diurnal constituent of longitudinal oscillation of the lake as a whole, with Buffialo high water and Toledo low water at about noon. The amplitude of this oscillation is about 1.5 cm. A similar analysis is made of the daily variation of the surface wind vector at several anemometer locations on the periphery of the lake. The results show that there is a distinct diurnal constituent of the longitudinal component of the wind-square vector, with maximum in the direction Toledo to Buffalo shortly after noon. This variation is associated with the normal, convective pulsation of the atmospheric boundary layer. It has an amplitude of about 10 m2 sec−2. To examine the mechanics of meteorological and gravitational tides on Lake Erie, computations are made of the response of the lake to a periodic force, by numerical integration of the hydrodynamical channel equations. All evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the 24.00-hr constituent of lake level is caused almost entirely by wind stress. On the other hand, the 12.00-hr constituent is affected significantly by the gravitational tidal force, as well as by the wind stress. (In both constituents the contribution of the atmospheric pressure-gradient force is negligible.) An earth-tide correction is applied to the semidiurnal response by means of Jeffreys' values for the Love numbers.