Evaporation (E) is a critical component of the water and energy budget in lake systems, yet is challenging to quantify directly and continuously. We examined the magnitude and changes of E and its drivers over Lake Erie—the shallowest and most southern lake of the Laurentian Great Lakes. We deployed two eddy‐covariance tower sites in the western Lake Erie Basin—one located nearshore (CB) and one offshore (LI)—from September 2011 through May 2016. Monthly E varied from 5 to 120 mm, with maximum E occurring in August, September, and October. The annual E was 635±42 (±SD) mm at CB and 604±32 mm at LI. Mean winter (October‐March) E was 189±61 mm at CB and 178±25 mm at LI, respectively accounting for 29.8% and 29.4% of annual E. Mean daily E was 1.8 mm during the coldest month (January) and 7.4 mm in the warmest month (July). Monthly E exhibited a strong positive linear relationship to the product of wind speed and vapor pressure deficit. Pronounced seasonal patterns in surface energy fluxes were observed with a 2‐month lag in E from R_n, due to the lake’s heat storage. This lag was shorter than reports regarding other Great Lakes. Difference in E between the offshore and nearshore sites reflected within‐lake spatial heterogeneity, likely attributable to climatic and bathymetric differences between them. These findings suggest that predictive models need to consider lake‐specific heat storage and spatial heterogeneity in order to accurately simulate lake E and its seasonal dynamics.

中文翻译：

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伊利湖西部蒸发的年内和年际动态


蒸发 ( E ) 是湖泊系统水和能量预算的关键组成部分，但直接、连续量化具有挑战性。我们研究了伊利湖（劳伦森五大湖中最浅、最南端的湖泊）上空E的大小和变化及其驱动因素。从 2011 年 9 月到 2016 年 5 月，我们在伊利湖盆地西部部署了两个涡相关塔站点，一个位于近岸 (CB)，一个位于近海 (LI)。每月E变化范围为 5 到 120 毫米，最大E出现在 8 月、九月和十月。 CB 处的年E为 635±42 (±SD) mm，LI 处的年 E 为 604±32 mm。冬季（10月至3月）CB平均E为189±61 mm，LI为178±25 mm，分别占全年E的29.8%和29.4%。最冷月份（一月）的平均日E为 1.8 毫米，最热月份（七月）的日平均 E 为 7.4 毫米。月E与风速和水汽压差的乘积呈现出很强的正线性关系。由于湖泊的蓄热作用，观察到表面能量通量的明显季节性模式， E与R _n存在 2 个月的滞后。这一滞后时间比有关其他五大湖的报道要短。近海和近岸地点之间的E差异反映了湖内的空间异质性，可能归因于它们之间的气候和测深差异。这些发现表明，预测模型需要考虑湖泊特定的热量储存和空间异质性，以便准确模拟E湖及其季节动态。