Temperature Variations in Deep Reservoirs

A mathematical model is developed to study the thermal behavior of freshwater impoundments. The model is formulated to simulate thermal stratification, turnover, hypolimnetic behavior, and epilimnetic behavior. Inputs to the model include meteorological data so that an energy budget relation is included. Output from the model includes the time-varying temperature distribution for the impoundment. A 315-day simulation is made of the thermal distributions in the TVA's Fontana Reservoir using the model. The results of the simulation show excellent comparison between predicted and measured quantities.