Impact of wind on copper footprints in a large river‐connected lake

In this study, a particle‐tracking model was used to simulate the Cu footprints in Poyang Lake under the dual action of complex wind field and lake flow patterns. When ignoring the wind field, the results showed that the gravity flow and top‐lifted flow both drove Cu particles to move from south to north, and the backward flow slowed down the velocity of Cu particles, but did not affect the final trend. When considering the wind field, wind‐driven currents had an effect on the horizontal lake flow patterns. Under the influence of wind‐driven current, the top‐lifted flow was the most vulnerable, the backward flow ranks the second and the gravity flow ranks the third. The results demonstrated the importance of the effect of wind on lake circulation and mixing. Better knowledge on heavy metal footprints in large river‐connected lake was provided to guide the future water management.