In order to address the impact of climate change on India's freshwater ecosystem, the knowledge of lake water surface temperature (LWST) is of extreme importance, say scientists. While, traditionally, lake water surface temperature has considered water surface bodies to be static, researchers from IIT Bombay have developed an app that helps estimate lake water surface temperature as a dynamic term. Additionally, the results demonstrate that 57 per cent of the lakes exhibit a statistically significant difference between the static and dynamic LWST values.
In a recent development, a new open-source app, IMPART, developed at IIT Bombay, allows researchers to track water surface temperatures effectively, an important aspect in keeping track of the impact of climate change. Experts at the institute say that sea surface temperatures, along with the surface temperatures of rivers, have consistently increased in recent years. In 2023, sea surface temperatures saw their sharpest rise in more than a century. The cause, say researchers at IIT Bombay, is increased human activities which are contributing to climate change, particularly in Asia, where river surface temperatures are rising rapidly and lakes which are critical sources of freshwater, are also experiencing a significant impact.
The excessive heating up of water bodies has a profound impact on both, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems over a period of time. Hence, monitoring lake water surface temperatures is essential for managing water resources and tracking climate change. For instance, rising surface temperatures can trigger harmful algal blooms, reduce oxygen levels, and adversely affect aquatic life in the lake. Accurate measurements of lake water surface temperatures are, therefore, crucial for safeguarding these ecosystems, says Professor J. Indu, from the Department of Civil Engineering and Interdisciplinary Centre for Climate Studies at IIT Bombay, who has been at the forefront of the project. He, along with Kumar Nitish from the same institute, developed an open-source web-based application called IMPART. Short for Integration of dynamic water extents towards improved lake water surface temperature, IMPART calculates the temperature of lake water surfaces considering the dynamic changes in lake areas. Their study, published in the Journal of Environmental Management, overcomes the shortcomings of traditional methods, which take into account constant lake areas—a simplification that can lead to misleading results.
“Accounting for dynamic changes in lake water surface extents significantly improves the accuracy of lake water surface temperature estimations,” says Prof Indu J. Factors such as growing urbanisation, seasonal variations, and rising temperatures alter lake surface areas and volumes from time to time, necessitating a more nuanced approach, he adds.
IIT Bombay’s IMPART bridges this gap by incorporating real-time changes in lake extents to calculate both static and dynamic lake water surface temperatures. The static temperature assumes a constant lake area, while the dynamic temperature adjusts for changes in water extent, as mentioned in the press release shared by the institute. IMPART’s intuitive, user-friendly interface makes it easy for individuals, researchers, and organisations to record and access lake water surface temperature data and track lake ecosystems more effectively.
The IMPART toolkit calculated both static and dynamic lake water surface temperatures for 342 lakes worldwide, including 115 lakes in India. The toolkit estimates how the water area changes for each monthly measurement of surface temperature in the database. “Dynamic considerations have now become feasible thanks to the advancements in remote sensing, cloud-based platforms such as Google Earth Engine, and algorithms capable of incorporating reflectance data with dynamic lake extents, thus enabling a more accurate and comprehensive analysis,” explains Kumar. The findings revealed significant differences between static and dynamic temperature estimates for more than half the lakes studied. Notably, these differences were statistically significant for over three-fourths of Indian lakes. Prof. Indu says, “Our approach highlights the importance of treating lake water surfaces as dynamic rather than static, enabling a more precise understanding of how freshwater ecosystems respond to climate change.”
The study also identified climatic zones where dynamic measurements are especially crucial. By categorizing locations of the lake into tropical, arid, temperate, cold, and polar climatic zones, the researchers found that the differences between static and dynamic temperatures were most pronounced in arid, temperate, and tropical zones compared to cold and polar regions. IMPART allows climate scientists to monitor lake water surface temperatures more accurately and study and mitigate the impact of these changes on the ecosystems within and around. It has a strong potential as a tool for tracking climate change, and the tool’s applications can be extended to other research areas.
In a recent development, a new open-source app, IMPART, developed at IIT Bombay, allows researchers to track water surface temperatures effectively, an important aspect in keeping track of the impact of climate change. Experts at the institute say that sea surface temperatures, along with the surface temperatures of rivers, have consistently increased in recent years. In 2023, sea surface temperatures saw their sharpest rise in more than a century. The cause, say researchers at IIT Bombay, is increased human activities which are contributing to climate change, particularly in Asia, where river surface temperatures are rising rapidly and lakes which are critical sources of freshwater, are also experiencing a significant impact.
The excessive heating up of water bodies has a profound impact on both, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems over a period of time. Hence, monitoring lake water surface temperatures is essential for managing water resources and tracking climate change. For instance, rising surface temperatures can trigger harmful algal blooms, reduce oxygen levels, and adversely affect aquatic life in the lake. Accurate measurements of lake water surface temperatures are, therefore, crucial for safeguarding these ecosystems, says Professor J. Indu, from the Department of Civil Engineering and Interdisciplinary Centre for Climate Studies at IIT Bombay, who has been at the forefront of the project. He, along with Kumar Nitish from the same institute, developed an open-source web-based application called IMPART. Short for Integration of dynamic water extents towards improved lake water surface temperature, IMPART calculates the temperature of lake water surfaces considering the dynamic changes in lake areas. Their study, published in the Journal of Environmental Management, overcomes the shortcomings of traditional methods, which take into account constant lake areas—a simplification that can lead to misleading results.
“Accounting for dynamic changes in lake water surface extents significantly improves the accuracy of lake water surface temperature estimations,” says Prof Indu J. Factors such as growing urbanisation, seasonal variations, and rising temperatures alter lake surface areas and volumes from time to time, necessitating a more nuanced approach, he adds.
IIT Bombay’s IMPART bridges this gap by incorporating real-time changes in lake extents to calculate both static and dynamic lake water surface temperatures. The static temperature assumes a constant lake area, while the dynamic temperature adjusts for changes in water extent, as mentioned in the press release shared by the institute. IMPART’s intuitive, user-friendly interface makes it easy for individuals, researchers, and organisations to record and access lake water surface temperature data and track lake ecosystems more effectively.
The IMPART toolkit calculated both static and dynamic lake water surface temperatures for 342 lakes worldwide, including 115 lakes in India. The toolkit estimates how the water area changes for each monthly measurement of surface temperature in the database. “Dynamic considerations have now become feasible thanks to the advancements in remote sensing, cloud-based platforms such as Google Earth Engine, and algorithms capable of incorporating reflectance data with dynamic lake extents, thus enabling a more accurate and comprehensive analysis,” explains Kumar. The findings revealed significant differences between static and dynamic temperature estimates for more than half the lakes studied. Notably, these differences were statistically significant for over three-fourths of Indian lakes. Prof. Indu says, “Our approach highlights the importance of treating lake water surfaces as dynamic rather than static, enabling a more precise understanding of how freshwater ecosystems respond to climate change.”
The study also identified climatic zones where dynamic measurements are especially crucial. By categorizing locations of the lake into tropical, arid, temperate, cold, and polar climatic zones, the researchers found that the differences between static and dynamic temperatures were most pronounced in arid, temperate, and tropical zones compared to cold and polar regions. IMPART allows climate scientists to monitor lake water surface temperatures more accurately and study and mitigate the impact of these changes on the ecosystems within and around. It has a strong potential as a tool for tracking climate change, and the tool’s applications can be extended to other research areas.
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