The Elevation to Area Relationship of Lake Behnke

• Main Author: Kaitlin Deutsch
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of South Florida 2012-01-01
• Series: Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two
• Subjects: Stormwater management, Depth, Bathymetry
• Online Access: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/ujmm/vol4/iss2/5

The objective of this project was to determine the area-to-depth relationship in Lake Behnke, which acts as the principal stormwater drainage basin for the University of South Florida campus in Tampa, Florida. Data previously collected in a stormwater management study by Jeffery Earhart illustrated a linear correlation between the lake's area and depth; however, that study was conducted in 1998, and this present work serves to double check that correlation. We analyzed a bathymetric map of Lake Behnke that displayed several contour lines indicating depth and approximated the area inside each closed curve with a contour integral. The resulting relationship between area and elevation was determined to be more parabolic than linear.