Blog: New project to study role of evaporation at Mono Lake
As an endorheic—or terminal—lake with no outlet, Mono Lake loses water naturally only through evaporation. Evaporation is a complex process, influenced by radiation, wind, temperature, and humidity. The rate of evaporation varies across seasons and over the lake’s surface. With no long-term observational data of evaporation at Mono Lake, the effect of evaporation on the water balance is not well understood. Longtime Mono Lake Committee hydrogeographer Peter Vorster studied evaporation here for a short period in the early 1980s. He determined Mono Lake loses nearly four vertical feet of water to evaporation each year. With a more current understanding of evaporation specifically at Mono Lake, the Committee can better estimate lake level fluctuation.