Publication

Does lake evaporation increase or decrease under the scenario of climate warming? This paper aims to answer this question by investigating the controlling mechanism of interannual variations in lake evaporation at a subtropical lake. The research methodology is based on continuous eddy covariance measurement over >7 years and a diagnostic analysis using the surface energy balance principle. The results indicate that lake evaporation was enhanced mainly by increasing energy inputs including solar radiation and incoming longwave radiation and was weakened by surface feedback through outgoing longwave radiation. The incoming longwave radiation was positively correlated with cloud cover. Bowen ratio and surface albedo had slight effect on the change of lake evaporation. The annual lake evaporation can be predicted by the Priestly-Taylor model using a larger coefficient of 1.39 than the original value of 1.26, suggesting that advection or entrainment in the atmospheric boundary layer may play a role in lake evaporation.