Category: Research

Urban Milwaukee and Wisconsin Public Radio mentioned a Michigan Tech study in stories about advice from a panel of scientists that Great Lakes communities prepare for swings in high and low water levels in the face of climate change.

The study, led by Pengfei Xue (CEGE/GLRC), projected Lake Superior to rise 7.5 inches and the Lake Michigan-Huron system to rise 17 inches by 2050 due to climate change. From the study:

Climate modeler Pengfei Xue, of Michigan Technological University, and his team for the first time combined a high-resolution regional climate model and a 3D hydrodynamic model, along with hydrologic models to hone projections for lake-level rise.

“What we have built is a system that gives a better representation of the complexity of hydrodynamics and lake-atmosphere interaction and contributes to a more advanced modeling framework necessary for improving the Great Lakes’ hydroclimate projections. This is particularly evident through the markedly improved simulation of lake evaporation.”

Pengfei Xue, associate director of the Great Lakes Research Center and associate professor in Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Read “Great Lakes levels are likely to see continued rise in next three decades” at Phys.org, by the American Geophysical Union.

Related

• Climate Change Causes Swings in Lake Michigan Water Level
• Climate change yields uncertain future for Great Lakes water levels
• Pengfei Xue Uses Simulation to Predict Lake Levels

Effective today (Oct. 10, 2022), Pengfei Xue (CEGE/GLRC) will become the Great Lakes Research Center’s first associate director.

Established in 2013, the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) has grown to include more than 100 affiliated faculty and research staff, achieving $9.2 million in new research awards and $7.1 million in research expenditures in fiscal year 2022. The GLRC’s portfolio includes core research in the areas of Great Lakes science and system processes, sustainability and marine technology adaptation.

Xue, an associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering (CEGE), will lead the GLRC’s Hydrodynamics, Climate, and Environment Research Team, and contribute to the center’s long-term strategy development.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to support Dr. Xue’s appointment as associate director,” stated Tim Havens, director of the GLRC. “His leading hydrodynamic modeling research has been a shining example of the high-quality research going on at the GLRC, and his commitment to the strategic growth of the GLRC is evident in his mentoring of new scientists and engineers in his group. I’m thrilled to welcome him to the GLRC executive team.”

“I am proud of Pengfei’s success and the impact his research has had. He is an expert in the development of numerical models and computer simulations for the Great Lakes, as well as environmental risk analysis, seasonal forecasting and regional climate change, ” said Audra Morse, CEGE department chair. “More importantly, the appointment acknowledges the impact Pengfei has had on his colleagues and the work he will continue in an effort to support his colleagues’ growth as scholars.”

By the Great Lakes Research Center.

Pengfei Xue (CEGE/GLRC) was quoted in a story published by Bridge Michigan on the expected rise of Great Lakes water levels heading toward 2050.

Xue’s research used advanced climate modeling with a 3D hydrodynamic model to simulate the lakes more accurately.

Great Lakes water levels could increase on average from 7.5 to 17 inches in next few decades, study says

New research into Great Lakes water levels looks farther into the future to predict how much climate change will increase lake levels in four of the five Great Lakes.

Presented at the Frontiers in Hydrology Meeting on Thursday and awaiting publication, the research – led by Michigan Technological University associate professor Pengfei Xue – used advanced climate modeling with a 3D hydrodynamic model to simulate the lakes more accurately. The modeling Xue used is more typically applied to oceans.

Michigan Technological University associate professor Pengfei Xue was the lead researcher on the modeling study looking into climate change impacts on the Great Lakes.

“We were able to develop a coupled modeling system that not only accounts for the interactions between the lakes, atmosphere and surrounding land, but also presented a more realistic and accurate representation of the Great Lakes hydrodynamic processes in climate modeling,” Xue said. “This is a necessary step to ultimately improve the long-term lake level projections.”

Read more at Bridge Michigan, by Natasha Blakely.

Future Rise of the Great Lakes Water Levels under Climate Change

The Great Lakes of North America are the largest unfrozen surface freshwater system in the world and many ecosystems, industries, and coastal processes are sensitive to the changes in their water levels. The water levels of the Great Lakes are primarily governed by the net basin supplies (NBS) of each lake which are the sum of over-lake precipitation and basin runoff minus lake evaporation.

First Author
Pengfei Xue, Michigan Technological University
Authors
Miraj Bhakta Kayastha, Michigan Technological University
Xinyu Ye, Michigan Technological University
Chenfu Huang, Michigan Technological University

Read more at Frontiers in Hydrology, by Penfei Xue, et al.

A proposal submitted by Zhanping You (CEGE) earlier this year has been selected by NextCycle Michigan as one of the projects in the NextCycle Michigan ROADS Innovation Challenge Track.

You and his team will work on a project titled “The Marketing Development and Implementation of Recycled Glass for Asphalt Pavements.”

You’s team is comprised of Michigan Technological University teams with the Marquette County Solid Waste Management Authority (MCSWMA) and Dickinson County Road Commission. The collaborators will plan a construction section of recycled glass asphalt pavement in Dickinson County.

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.

The Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering (CEGE) congratulates Noel Urban for being named the Best Journal of Great Lakes Research Associate Editor for 2021.

The Journal of Great Lakes Research is the official journal of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR). Urban is a member of its editorial board, which includes many associate editors with a wide range of expertise.

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.