Lake Champlain is a mesotrophic lake bordering the states of New York and Vermont and the Canadian province Quebec. The lake lies between the Adirondack Mountains in the west and the Green Mountains of Vermont to the east. Its orientation is predominantly north and south spanning a length of 193 km, and it is relatively narrow with its widest part extending 19km. The surface area of the lake is 1127 km~2 and mean depth is 19.5m, with a maximum depth of 122m. Large amplitude internal seiches and bores have recently been observed (HUNKINS et al. 1998), and an extensive field program is being conducted to study the lake's circulation and mixing. Part of the observation strategy involves Lagrangian experiments, which began in summer 2003. Both surface tracking buoys and subsurface buoyancy-controlled (RAFOS) buoys, were used to track the baroclinic circulation. This marks the first time that we are aware of that RAFOS technology has been used in a freshwater environment.
展开▼
