The water balance of Lake Victoria

The water balance of Lake Victoria

This paper presents new calculations of Lake Victoria's water balance. Evaporation is estimated using both the Penman formula and the energy balance approach, and sensitivity studies are performed to determine the influence of input data on the estimates. Rainfall over the lake is estimated from catchment rainfall using a relationship between the two that was derived using satellite data. The r...

Monitoring the water balance of Lake Victoria, East Africa, from space

Using satellite gravimetric and altimetric data, we examine trends in water storage and lake levels of multiple lakes in the Great Rift Valley region of East Africa for the years 2003–2008. GRACE total water storage estimates reveal that water storage declined in much of East Africa, by as much as 60 mm year, while altimetric data show that lake levels in some large lakes dropped by as much as ...

On the feasibility of using a lake water balance model to infer rainfall: an example from Lake Victoria

A water balance model of Lake Victoria that can be used to assess rainfall from lake level, is derived. The model utilizes satellite estimates of rainfall directly over the lake. The model, initially derived and calibrated for the period 1956-1978, is reformulated here in such a way that all water balance terms except evaporation can be calculated from a combination of catchment rainfall and le...

Sustainability and the value of the ‘regulating’ services: Wetlands and water quality in Lake Victoria

Performance of Meris Products in Lake Victoria

The newly finished ESA project MERIS Lakes included activity in Lake Victoria to show the potensial for monitoring this eutrophic African Lake. In this study an evaluation of how different processors perform in Lake Victoria. Lack of proper validation data makes it only possible to have a preliminary assessment of the performance of the product algal_2, suspended material and the signal depth, ...