Modeling 1993–2008 climatology of seasonal general circulation and thermal structure in the Great Lakes using FVCOM

An unstructured Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model was applied to all five Great Lakes simultaneously to simulate circulation and thermal structure from 1993 to 2008. Model results are compared to available observations of currents and temperature and previous modeling work. Maps of climatological circulation for all five Great lakes are presented. Winter currents show a two-gyre type circulation in Lakes Ontario and Erie and one large-scale cyclonic circulation in Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior. During the summer, a cyclonic circulation remains in Lakes Superior; a primarily cyclonic circulation dominates upper and central Lake Huron; Lake Ontario has a single cyclonic circulation, while circulation in the central basin of Lake Erie remains two-gyre type; Lake Michigan has a cyclonic gyre in the north and an anti-cyclonic one in the south. The temperature profile during the summer is well simulated when a surface wind-wave mixing scheme is included in the model. Main features of the seasonal evolution of water temperature, such as inverse temperature stratification during the winter, the spring and autumn overturn, the thermal bar, and the stratification during summer are well reproduced. The lakes exhibit significant annual and interannual variations in current speed and temperature.

► We simulate all the five Great Lakes using FVCOM simultaneously for the first time.
► We present 15 years climatology of seasonal circulation in the Great Lakes.
► We discuss annual cycle of the thermal structure in all five lakes.
► Vertical thermal structure is well simulated when a surface wind wave-mixing scheme is included.