Hydraulic Modeling of Mixing in Stratified Lakes

Criteria have been developed for laboratory modeling of stratified lake inflows and mechanical destratification flows. Density measurements and flow visualization were performed in two inflow lake models, which are identical in horizontal dimensions but differ by a factor of two in vertical dimensions. It was determined that the vertical dispersion process can be accurately modeled if the fundamental modeling parameter is the Richardson number. Similarly horizontal dispersion can be accurately modeled. Also, a vertically exaggerated model of Ham's lake was constructed and experiments were run of the mechanical destratification of the model. Surprisingly accurate modeling of the prototype destratification experiments was achieved using the overall Richardson number as the fundamental nondimensional parameter.