For your next swim: Lake Geneva forecasts now online

A new web service provides real-time information and forecasts of water temperature and surface water currents. First and foremost a tool for scientists, the map could help you find just the right beach for your next swim. If you have spent time on the beaches around Lake Geneva, you may already have noticed that some spots are warmer than others, and that the wind somehow plays into the equation. So which beach should you choose for your next swim? meteolakes.epfl.ch , an online platform with real-time 3D simulations of Lake Geneva, provides water temperature and current forecasts for the entire lake. The platform, which is open to the public, was initially developed to validate environmental data gathered by orbiting satellites. Beyond that, it contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamic processes playing out in the lake, with new insights into phenomena that conventional monitoring techniques are unable to observe. For Theo Baracchini, the PhD student in the Physics of Aquatic Systems laboratory who created the platform, monitoring a lake's entire volume is more essential today than ever before.