This report gives a compilation of wind velocity measurements on Round Lake and Lake
Harriet taken over the ice in 2004 and 2005. Results, primarily from the 2004 Round Lake
study, are presented and discussed to characterize the wind sheltering effect of tree
canopies on lakes. Wind forcing is important for predicting many physical, chemical and
biological lake processes, and there is a lack of understanding of the spatial and temporal
variation of wind speeds over lakes especially those sheltered by canopies. The objective of
this study was to evaluate, with observations, the spatial evolution of an internal wind
boundary layer as it flows from a rough canopy of trees and shoreline reeds onto an ice
cover of a lake. More specifically, the study sought to determine the streamwise profile of
the shear stress on a lake surface, and to establish a relationship between surface shear
stress and fetch. The data show that reduced wind shear stress extends across
approximately half the diameter of Round Lake (~ 500 m).
Thill, James W..
Wind Velocity Measurements on Two Small Ice-Covered Lakes:.
St. Anthony Falls Laboratory.
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