Time Series Analysis of Lake Surface Water Temperatures in Perialpine Austrian Lakes

Abstract:

Long-term observations of surface water temperatures (SWT) collected by the Austrian Hydrographical Service are analysed for 24 Austrian lakes located in different climatic provinces. The lakes are situated north and south of the Alps, in the east bordering Hungary and in the west bordering Germany. All lakes are natural and are mainly embedded into calcareous rock formations at elevations between 100 and 900 m. Lakes largely vary in size, depth, retention time, flushing and mixing. Results indicate a rise in SWT parallel to air temperature (AT) since the mid-1960s. On an annual basis, changes in water temperature were the greatest in spring and summer. As a consequence of increasing water temperatures, the duration of thermal stratification expands, mixing and retention time are affected. Changes in the food web are expected to occur, but will strongly depend on local environmental conditions and will therefore be different for individual lakes. Trends in SWT are analysed in detail for four of the lakes having the longest data records (>100 years), representing different lake types and climate provinces.