Dr Iestyn Woolway
NERC Independent Research Fellow

- Published
A novel framework for accurate, automated and dynamic global lake mapping based on optical imagery
Zhou, T., Zhang, G., Wang, J., Zhu, Z., Woolway, R. I., Han, X., Xu, F. & Peng, J., 1 Mar 2025, In: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. 221, p. 280-298 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Decoupling of surface water storage from precipitation in global drylands due to anthropogenic activity
Zhao, G., Gao, H., Li, Y., Tang, Q., Woolway, R. I., Merder, J., Rosa, L. & Michalak, A. M., 10 Jan 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Nature Water. 3, 1, p. 80-88 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Drinking water safety improvement and future challenge of lakes and reservoirs
Zhang, Y., Deng, J., Zhou, Y., Zhang, Y., Qin, B., Song, C., Shi, K., Zhu, G., Hou, X., Zhang, Y., He, S., Woolway, R. I. & Li, N., 30 Nov 2024, In: Science bulletin. 69, 22, p. 3558-3570 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Climate warming and heatwaves accelerate global lake deoxygenation
Zhang, Y., Shi, K., Woolway, R. I., Wang, X. & Zhang, Y., 21 Mar 2025, In: Science Advances. 11, 12, eadt5369.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Global mapping of human-transformed dike-pond systems
Xu, Y., Feng, L., Fang, H., Song, X.-P., Gieseke, F., Kariryaa, A., Oehmcke, S., Gibson, L., Jiang, X., Lin, R., Woolway, R. I., Zheng, C., Brandt, M. & Fensholt, R., 1 Nov 2024, In: Remote Sensing of Environment. 313Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Widespread societal and ecological impacts from projected Tibetan Plateau lake expansion
Xu, F., Zhang, G., Woolway, R. I., Yang, K., Wada, Y., Wang, J. & Crétaux, J.-F., 27 May 2024, In: Nature Geoscience. 17, 6, p. 516-523 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Recent large-inland-lake outbursts on the Tibetan Plateau: processes, causes, and mechanisms
Xu, F., Liu, Y., Zhang, G., Woolway, R. I., Ju, J., Chen, W., Zhao, P., Zhu, Y., Zhou, T. & Wang, X., 26 Mar 2025, In: Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 25, 3, p. 1187-1206 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Climate tracking by freshwater fishes suggests that fish diversity in temperate lakes may be increasingly threatened by climate warming
Wu, T., Imrit, M. A., Movahedinia, Z., Kong, J., Woolway, R. I. & Sharma, S., 1 Feb 2023, In: Diversity and Distributions. 29, 2, p. 300-315 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Energy input and dissipation in a temperate lake during the spring transition
Woolway, R. & Simpson, J., Aug 2017, In: Ocean Dynamics. 67, 8, p. 959-971Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Automated calculation of surface energy fluxes with high-frequency lake buoy data
Woolway, R. I., Jones, I. D., Hamilton, D. P., Maberly, S. C., Muraoka, K., Read, J. S., Smyth, R. L. & Winslow, L. A., 1 Aug 2015, In: Environmental Modelling and Software. 70, p. 191-198Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Atmospheric stilling leads to prolonged thermal stratification in a large shallow polymictic lake
Woolway, R. I., Meinson, P., Noges, P., Jones, I. D. & Laas, A., 1 Apr 2017, In: Climatic Change. 141, 4, p. 759-773Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
A novel method for estimating the onset of thermal stratification in lakes from surface water measurements
Woolway, R. I., Maberly, S. C., Jones, I. D. & Feuchtmayr, H., 25 Jun 2014, In: WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH. 50, 6, p. 5131-5140Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Worldwide alteration of lake mixing regimes in response to climate change
Woolway, R. I. & Merchant, C. J., 1 Apr 2019, In: Nature Geoscience. 12, 4, p. 271-276Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Compound hot temperature and high chlorophyll extreme events in global lakes
Woolway, R. I., Kraemer, B. M., Zscheischler, J. & Albergel, C., 16 Dec 2021, In: Environmental Research Letters. 16, 12, 124066.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Physical and chemical impacts of a major storm on a temperate lake: a taste of things to come?
Woolway, R. I., Simpson, J. H., Spiby, D., Feuchtmayr, H., Powell, B. & Maberly, S. C., Nov 2018, In: Climatic Change. 151, 2, p. 333-347Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Lake heatwaves under climate change
Woolway, R. I., Jennings, E., Shatwell, T., Golub, M., Pierson, D. C. & Maberly, S. C., 20 Jan 2021, In: Nature. 589, p. 402-407Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Multivariate extremes in lakes
Woolway, R. I., Tong, Y., Feng, L., Zhao, G., Dinh, D. A., Shi, H., Zhang, Y. & Shi, K., 29 May 2024, In: Nature Communications. 15, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A comparison of the diel variability in epilimnetic temperature for five lakes in the English Lake District
Woolway, R. I., Jones, I. D., Feuchtmayr, H. & Maberly, S. C., 20 Apr 2015, In: INLAND WATERS. 5, 2, p. 139-154Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Geographic and temporal variations in turbulent heat loss from lakes: A global analysis across 45 lakes
Woolway, R. I., Verburg, P., Lenters, J. D., Merchant, C. J., Hamilton, D. P., Brookes, J., de Eyto, E., Kelly, S., Healey, N. C., Hook, S., Laas, A., Pierson, D., Rusak, J. A., Kuha, J., Karjalainen, J., Kallio, K., Lepistoe, A. & Jones, I. D., 1 Nov 2018, In: Limnology and Oceanography. 63, 6, p. 2436-2449Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Amplified surface temperature response of cold, deep lakes to inter-annual air temperature variability
Woolway, R. I. & Merchant, C. J., 23 Jun 2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Decarbonization potential of floating solar photovoltaics on lakes worldwide
Woolway, R. I., Zhao, G., Rocha, S. M. G., Thackeray, S. J. & Armstrong, A., 4 Jun 2024, In: Nature Water. 2, 6, p. 566-576 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Climate velocity in inland standing waters
Woolway, R. I. & Maberly, S. C., 1 Dec 2020, In: Nature Climate Change. 10, 12, p. 1124-U91Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Diel Surface Temperature Range Scales with Lake Size
Woolway, R. I., Jones, I. D., Maberly, S. C., French, J. R., Livingstone, D. M., Monteith, D. T., Simpson, G., Thackeray, S. J., Copenhagen, U., London, U., DeGasperi, C. L., Evans, C. D., de Eyto, E., Feuchtmayr, H., Hamilton, D., Kernan, M., Krokowski, J., Rimmer, A., Rose, K. C., Rusak, J. A., Ryves, D. B., Scott, D. R., Shilland, E. M., Smyth, R. L., Staehr, P. A., Thomas, R., Waldron, S. & Weyhenmeyer, G., 29 Mar 2016, In: PLoS ONE. 11, 3Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Northern Hemisphere Atmospheric Stilling Accelerates Lake Thermal Responses to a Warming World
Woolway, R. I., Merchant, C. J., Van Den Hoek, J., Azorin-Molina, C., Noges, P., Laas, A., Mackay, E. B. & Jones, I. D., 16 Nov 2019, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 46, 21, p. 11983-11992Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Global lake responses to climate change
Woolway, R. I., Kraemer, B. M., Lenters, J. D., Merchant, C. J., O'Reilly, C. M. & Sharma, S., 1 Aug 2020, In: Nature Reviews Earth and Environment. 1, p. 388-403Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Intralake Heterogeneity of Thermal Responses to Climate Change: A Study of Large Northern Hemisphere Lakes
Woolway, R. I. & Merchant, C. J., 27 Mar 2018, In: Journal of Geophysical Research : Atmospheres. 123, 6, p. 3087-3098Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Latitude and lake size are important predictors of over-lake atmospheric stability
Woolway, R. I., Verburg, P., Merchant, C. J., Lenters, J. D., Hamilton, D. P., Brookes, J., Kelly, S., Hook, S., Laas, A., Pierson, D., Rimmer, A., Rusak, J. A. & Jones, I. D., 16 Sept 2017, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 44, 17, p. 8875-8883Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Warming of Central European lakes and their response to the 1980s climate regime shift
Woolway, R. I., Dokulil, M. T., Marszelewski, W., Schmid, M., Bouffard, D. & Merchant, C. J., 1 Jun 2017, In: Climatic Change. 142, 3-4, p. 505-520Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Phenological shifts in lake stratification under climate change
Woolway, R. I., Sharma, S., Weyhenmeyer, G. A., Debolskiy, A., Golub, M., Mercado-Bettin, D., Perroud, M., Stepanenko, V., Tan, Z., Grant, L., Ladwig, R., Mesman, J., Moore, T. N., Shatwell, T., Vanderkelen, I., Austin, J. A., DeGasperi, C. L., Dokulil, M., La Fuente, S., Mackay, E. B., Schladow, S. G., Watanabe, S., Marce, R., Pierson, D. C., Thiery, W. & Jennings, E., 19 Apr 2021, In: Nature Communications. 12, 2318 (2021).Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Impact of the 2018 European heatwave on lake surface water temperature
Woolway, R. I., Jennings, E. & Carrea, L., 2 Jul 2020, In: INLAND WATERS. 10, 3, p. 322-332Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Winter inverse lake stratification under historic and future climate change
Woolway, R. I., Denfeld, B., Tan, Z., Jansen, J., Weyhenmeyer, G. A. & La Fuente, S., 1 Aug 2022, In: Limnology and Oceanography Letters. 7, 4, p. 302-311Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Rapidly expanding lake heatwaves under climate change
Woolway, R. I., Anderson, E. J. & Albergel, C., 18 Aug 2021, In: Environmental Research Letters. 16, 9Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Lake Ice Will Be Less Safe for Recreation and Transportation Under Future Warming
Woolway, R. I., Huang, L., Sharma, S., Lee, S.-S., Rodgers, K. B. & Timmermann, A., 1 Oct 2022, In: Earth's Future. 10, 10, e2022EF002907.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Lakes in Hot Water: The Impacts of a Changing Climate on Aquatic Ecosystems
Woolway, R. I., Sharma, S. & Smol, J. P., 30 Oct 2022, In: BioScience. 72, 11, p. 1050-1061 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Substantial increase in minimum lake surface temperatures under climate change
Woolway, R. I., Weyhenmeyer, G. A., Schmid, M., Dokulil, M. T., de Eyto, E., Maberly, S. C., May, L. & Merchant, C. J., 15 May 2019, In: Climatic Change. 155, 1, p. 81-94Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Altitudinal dependence of a statistically significant diel temperature cycle in Scottish lochs
Woolway, R. I., Livingstone, D. M. & Kernan, M., 26 Aug 2015, In: INLAND WATERS. 5, 4, p. 311-316Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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The pace of shifting seasons in lakes
Woolway, R. I., 13 Apr 2023, In: Nature Communications. 14, 2101.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Severe Lake Heatwaves Attributable to Human-Induced Global Warming
Woolway, I., Albergel, C., Froelicher, T. & Perroud, M., 28 Feb 2022, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 49, 4, 10 p., e2021GL097031.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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LakeMetabolizer: an R package for estimating lake metabolism from free-water oxygen using diverse statistical models
Winslow, L. A., Zwart, J. A., Batt, R. D., Dugan, H. A., Woolway, R. I., Corman, J. R., Hanson, P. C. & Read, J. S., 2 Nov 2016, In: INLAND WATERS. 6, 4, p. 622-636Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Variability in epilimnion depth estimations in lakes
Wilson, H. L., Ayala, A. I., Jones, I. D., Rolston, A., Pierson, D., de Eyto, E., Grossart, H.-P., Perga, M.-E., Woolway, R. I. & Jennings, E., 24 Nov 2020, In: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 24, 11, p. 5559-5577Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Algal blooms intensify in global large lakes over the past two decades
Wang, Y., Zhao, D., Woolway, R. I., Yan, H., Paerl, H. W., Zheng, Y., Zheng, C. & Feng, L., 11 Jan 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: National Science Review. nwaf011.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Numerical simulation of thermal stratification in Lake Qiandaohu using an improved WRF-Lake model
Wang, X., Wang, W., He, Y., Zhang, S., Huang, W., Woolway, R. I., Shi, K. & Yang, X., 1 Mar 2023, In: Journal of Hydrology. 618, 129184.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Lake Cold Spells Are Declining Worldwide
Wang, X., Woolway, R. I., Shi, K., Qin, B. & Zhang, Y., 28 Nov 2024, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 51, 22, p. e2024GL111300Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Climate change drives rapid warming and increasing heatwaves of lakes
Wang, X., Shi, K., Zhang, Y., Qin, B., Zhang, Y., Wang, W., Woolway, R. I., Piao, S. & Jeppesen, E., 30 Jul 2023, In: Science bulletin. 68, 14, p. 1574-1584 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Disproportionate impact of atmospheric heat events on lake surface water temperature increases
Wang, X., Shi, K., Qin, B., Zhang, Y. & Woolway, R. I., 1 Nov 2024, In: Nature Climate Change. 14, 11, p. 1172-1177 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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More rapid lake heatwave development
Wang, X., Iestyn Woolway, R., Shi, K., Qin, B. & Zhang, Y., 15 Dec 2024, In: Science bulletin. 69, 23, p. 3672-3676 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A record-breaking extreme heat event caused unprecedented warming of lakes in China
Wang, W., Shi, K., Wang, X., Wang, S., Zhang, D., Peng, Y., Li, N., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., Qin, B., Iestyn Woolway, R. & Jeppesen, E., 30 Mar 2023, In: Science bulletin. 68, 6, p. 578-582 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Chinese ice-lake line shifts under climate change
Wang, W., Shi, K., Iestyn Woolway, R. & Zhang, Y., 10 Dec 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Science bulletin.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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The impact of extreme heat on lake warming in China
Wang, W., Shi, K., Wang, X., Zhang, Y., Qin, B., Zhang, Y. & Woolway, R. I., 2 Jan 2024, In: Nature Communications. 15, 1, 70.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Global Heat Uptake by Inland Waters
Vanderkelen, I., van Lipzig, N. P. M., Lawrence, D. M., Droppers, B., Golub, M., Gosling, S. N., Janssen, A. B. G., Marce, R., Schmied, H. M., Perroud, M., Pierson, D., Pokhrel, Y., Satoh, Y., Schewe, J., Seneviratne, S. ,. I., Stepanenko, V. M., Tan, Z., Woolway, R. ,. I. & Thiery, W., 28 Jun 2020, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 47, 12Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review