get_lake_depth: Get Lake Depth Estimates

In lakefetch: Calculate Fetch and Wave Exposure for Lake Sampling Points

Get Lake Depth Estimates

Description

Retrieves or estimates lake depth for wave calculations. Uses user-provided depth if available, otherwise estimates from lake surface area using empirical relationships.

Usage

get_lake_depth(
  lake_polygon,
  site_coords = NULL,
  user_depth = NULL,
  method = "auto"
)

Arguments

lake_polygon	sf polygon of the lake
site_coords	Coordinates of the sample site (optional, for future bathymetry grid support)
user_depth	User-provided depth in meters (highest priority)
method	Method for depth estimation: "auto" or "empirical"

Details

Depth estimation methods:

1. User-provided: Direct input, highest confidence

2. Empirical: Estimated from lake surface area using published relationships

The empirical method uses the relationship from Cael et al. (2017): mean_depth ~ 10.3 * area_km2^0.25

Value

A list with elements:

depth_mean	Estimated mean depth in meters
depth_max	Estimated maximum depth in meters (if available)
source	Source of the estimate ("user" or "empirical")
confidence	Confidence level ("high", "medium", "low")

References

Messager, M.L., Lehner, B., Grill, G., Nedeva, I., Schmitt, O. (2016): Estimating the volume and age of water stored in global lakes using a geo-statistical approach. Nature Communications, 7: 13603.

Cael, B.B., Heathcote, A.J., Seekell, D.A. (2017): The volume and mean depth of Earth's lakes. Geophysical Research Letters, 44: 209-218.

Examples

data(example_lake)

# With user-provided depth
depth <- get_lake_depth(example_lake, user_depth = 8.5)

# Estimate from lake area
depth <- get_lake_depth(example_lake)

lakefetch documentation built on March 20, 2026, 5:10 p.m.