Abstract's details
Deriving Lake Circulation from SWOT: A Physically Constrained, Scalable Approach
Event: 2025 SWOT Science Team Meeting
Session: Hydrology: Open Science & Applications
Presentation type: Poster
Despite the growing importance of inland water bodies in climate, hydrology, and biogeochemistry, large-scale observations of lake circulation remain virtually nonexistent. The SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite mission offers, for the first time, the spatial continuity and resolution required to resolve such dynamics at synoptic scales, directly from water surface geometry.
Lake circulation, shaped by size, depth, and morphology, controls key processes such as heat redistribution, nutrient transport, and oxygenation, yet remains largely undocumented across systems. The SWOT mission offers a unique opportunity to observe and compare these internal dynamics globally, opening new avenues for understanding lake function and diversity.
We investigate the capacity of SWOT data to reconstruct horizontal circulation patterns in large lakes by combining interferometric elevation measurements with precise geoid referencing and high-resolution bathymetry. This configuration enables the derivation of physically consistent surface flow fields, without the need for external forcing or in-situ observations. Elevation gradients, when interpreted relative to the geoid, reveal pressure surfaces that can drive internal redistribution of mass, while bathymetric features modulate the spatial structure of the flow.
Applied to Lake Titicaca and Lake Issyk-Kul, this methodology forms part of a broader, multi-phase project aiming to establish transferable strategies for deriving lake circulation patterns from satellite observations. Future developments will explore the integration of physical modeling, data assimilation techniques, and physically informed learning approaches, enabling deeper comparisons across lakes and dynamic reconstruction of circulation under diverse forcing scenarios. Ultimately, this framework offers a scalable foundation for dynamic lake monitoring worldwide, paving the way for a new generation of physically informed, satellite-driven freshwater circulation models.
Back to the list of abstractLake circulation, shaped by size, depth, and morphology, controls key processes such as heat redistribution, nutrient transport, and oxygenation, yet remains largely undocumented across systems. The SWOT mission offers a unique opportunity to observe and compare these internal dynamics globally, opening new avenues for understanding lake function and diversity.
We investigate the capacity of SWOT data to reconstruct horizontal circulation patterns in large lakes by combining interferometric elevation measurements with precise geoid referencing and high-resolution bathymetry. This configuration enables the derivation of physically consistent surface flow fields, without the need for external forcing or in-situ observations. Elevation gradients, when interpreted relative to the geoid, reveal pressure surfaces that can drive internal redistribution of mass, while bathymetric features modulate the spatial structure of the flow.
Applied to Lake Titicaca and Lake Issyk-Kul, this methodology forms part of a broader, multi-phase project aiming to establish transferable strategies for deriving lake circulation patterns from satellite observations. Future developments will explore the integration of physical modeling, data assimilation techniques, and physically informed learning approaches, enabling deeper comparisons across lakes and dynamic reconstruction of circulation under diverse forcing scenarios. Ultimately, this framework offers a scalable foundation for dynamic lake monitoring worldwide, paving the way for a new generation of physically informed, satellite-driven freshwater circulation models.