Analysis on driving factors of lake surface water temperature for major lakes in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau

Abstract

Lake surface water temperature (LSWT) is an important factor in lake ecological environments. It has been observed that LSWT have followed an upward trend in the last half century, which has had serious impacts on regional biodiversity and climate. It is important to understand the main reason for this phenomenon in order to have a basis for controlling and improving the regional ecological environment. In this study, the contribution rates of near surface air temperature (NSAT), surface pressure (SP), surface solar radiation (SSR), total cloud cover (TCC), wind speed (WS) and Secchi depth (SD) to LSWT of 11 naturally formed lakes in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau are quantified. The characteristics of and relationships between the various factors and LSWT in lakes of different types and attributes are revealed. The results show that: (1) from 2001 to 2018, most lakes were warming; the change rate of LSWT-day was higher than that of LSWT-night. The mean comprehensive warming rate (MCWR) of LSWT-day was 0.42 °C/decade, and the mean comprehensive change rate (MCCR) was 0.31 °C/decade; the MCWR of LSWT-night was 0.19 °C/decade, and the MCCR was 0.01 °C/decade. NSAT and SSR were most strongly correlated with LSWT-day/night. There were no large seasonal differences in the correlation between NSAT and LSWT-day, while seasonal differences in the correlations between NSAT with LSWT-night and SSR with LSWT-day/night were observed. (2) NSAT and SSR were the most important factors affecting LSWT-day/night changes, with contribution rates of 30.24% and 44.34%, respectively. LSWT-day was more affected by SP and SSR in small, shallow, and low-storage lakes. For larger lakes, LSWT-day was more affected by WS, while LSWT-night was greatly affected by TCC. Urban and semi-urban lakes were more affected by SSR and NSAT; for natural lakes, the decreasing SD affected the increases in LSWT, which indirectly reflects the impact of human activities. LSWT-day/night responded differently to different morphological characteristics of the lakes and different intensities of human activity.