Modeling the Shores of Lake Erie

Computer modeling has become an important part of everyday life, from creating weather forecasts to deciding where to put a new traffic light. And, as with all models, the accuracy of their predictions depends on being able to feed them accurate information. This includes the initial information used to create the model, as well as any adjustments as measuring and modeling technologies improve over time.

Dr. Ethan Kubatko, from Ohio State University’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Geodetic Sciences, is working on such an adjustment to the Lake Erie Operational Forecast System (LEOFS) model, which visualizes the flow of water throughout Lake Erie. When Kubatko joined OSU in 2008, he came across a report of how the model had been performing and noticed a pattern to the data.