Getting Started with lakefetch

Introduction

The lakefetch package calculates fetch (open water distance) and wave exposure metrics for lake sampling points. Fetch is an important physical parameter that influences wave energy, sediment resuspension, and habitat characteristics.

Installation

install.packages("lakefetch")

# Optional packages for extra features:
# install.packages("hydrogeofetch")                      # NHD integration
# install.packages(c("shiny", "leaflet", "base64enc"))  # Interactive app

Quick Start

1. Load your site data

library(lakefetch)

# From the installed example CSV (two sites on Blue Mountain Lake, NY)
sites <- load_sites(system.file("extdata", "sample_sites.csv",
                                package = "lakefetch"))

You can also pass a data.frame directly to load_sites(). CSV column names starting with “lat” and “lon” (e.g., “latitude”, “longitude”) are detected automatically; use the lat_col / lon_col arguments to override.

2. Get lake boundary

# Automatically download from OpenStreetMap (requires network)
lake <- get_lake_boundary(sites)

# For very large or complex lakes, increase the Overpass timeout and
# optionally simplify the polygon for faster downstream computation:
lake <- get_lake_boundary(sites,
                          timeout = 300,
                          simplify_tolerance_m = 100)

# Or load a local shapefile / GeoPackage instead of querying OSM
lake <- get_lake_boundary(sites, file = "path/to/lake_boundary.gpkg")

3. Calculate fetch

results <- fetch_calculate(sites, lake)

# View results
head(results$results)

4. Visualize

# Map of sites
plot_fetch_map(results)

# Bar chart
plot_fetch_bars(results)

# Interactive app (requires the shiny, leaflet, base64enc packages)
fetch_app(results)

The Quick Start chunks above are not evaluated when the vignette is built because they require an internet connection to OpenStreetMap and (for the Shiny app) the optional shiny/leaflet packages. To run them interactively, simply paste them into an R session.

Understanding the Results

The fetch_calculate() function returns a list containing:

results: An sf object with one row per site, containing:
- fetch_0, fetch_5, …, fetch_355: Fetch distance in each direction (meters)
- fetch_mean: Average fetch across all directions
- fetch_max: Maximum fetch (longest open water distance)
- fetch_effective: Mean of the three longest fetch values
- orbital_effective: Estimated wave orbital velocity (m/s)
- exposure_category: Classification as “Sheltered”, “Moderate”, or “Exposed”
lakes: The lake polygon(s) used for calculation
angles: The angles (in degrees) used for ray-casting

Exposure Categories

Sites are classified based on effective fetch:

Category	Effective Fetch	Typical Conditions
Sheltered	< 2.5 km	Protected bays, minimal wave action
Moderate	2.5 - 5 km	Some wave exposure, mixed conditions
Exposed	> 5 km	Open water, significant wave energy

Configuration Options

Customize the calculation parameters:

# View current options
lakefetch_options()

# Change options
lakefetch_options(
  buffer_distance_m = 20,      # GPS accuracy buffer
  angle_resolution_deg = 10,   # Direction resolution (degrees)
  max_fetch_m = 30000,         # Maximum fetch distance
  use_parallel = TRUE          # Parallel processing for multiple lakes
)

# Reset to defaults
lakefetch_reset_options()

NHD Integration

If the hydrogeofetch package is installed, lakefetch can add hydrological context from the National Hydrography Dataset: - Lake outlet and inlet locations - Distance and direction to outlet/inlets from each site - Connectivity classification (Headwater, Drainage, Terminal, Isolated) - Outlet stream order - Watershed area

# NHD context is added automatically if available
results <- fetch_calculate(sites, lake, add_context = TRUE)

# Check connectivity
table(results$results$connectivity_class)

Working with Multiple Lakes

If your sites span multiple lakes, lakefetch handles this automatically:

# Sites are assigned to their containing lake polygon
sites_with_lakes <- assign_sites_to_lakes(lake$sites, lake$all_lakes)

# Check assignment
table(sites_with_lakes$lake_name)

Exporting Results

# To CSV (without geometry)
write.csv(sf::st_drop_geometry(results$results),
          "fetch_results.csv", row.names = FALSE)

# To GeoPackage (with geometry)
sf::st_write(results$results, "fetch_results.gpkg")

# Export ray geometries for GIS
rays <- create_ray_geometries(results)
sf::st_write(rays, "fetch_rays.gpkg")