Abstract
Regional climate change affects the state of inland water bodies and their water balance, which is determined by a number of hydrometeorological and hydrogeological factors. An integral characteristic of changes in the water balance is the behavior of the level of lakes and reservoirs, which not only largely determines the physical and ecological state of water bodies, but also significantly affects the coastal infrastructure and socio-economic development of the region. This paper investigates the interannual variability of the level of the Ladoga and Onega lakes, the largest lakes in Europe located in the northwest of Russia, according to satellite altimetry data for 1993–2020. For this purpose, we used three specialized altimetry databases: DAHITI, G-REALM, and HYDROWEB. Water level data from these altimetry databases were compared with in-situ records at water level gauge stations. Information on air temperature (1945–2019) and precipitation (1966–2019) acquired at three meteostations located at Ladoga and Onega lakes was used to investigate interannual trends in the regional climate change. Finally, we discuss the potential impact of the lake level rise and regional climate warming on the infrastructure and operability of railways in this region.
Highlights
The state of lakes, water reservoirs, and inland seas is an important indicator of ongoing regional climate change, including extreme climate events
October 1992 to December 2020 derived from the satellite altimetry data
The lowest level is observed in winter, the highest in summer, which corresponds to the seasonal variability of precipitation in the drainage basin
Summary
The state of lakes, water reservoirs, and inland seas is an important indicator of ongoing regional climate change, including extreme climate events. Changes in climatic or long-term weather conditions affect the state and variability of natural parameters of inland water bodies: water level, water temperature, water salinity, vertical stratification of waters, currents, frontal zones, upwellings, eddies and gyres, ice cover and ice thickness, water turbidity, ecosystems, biodiversity, vegetation, algal bloom, etc. Lake area, lake surface temperature, ice area and thickness, and lake water color are key parameters of the WMO Global Terrestrial Network of Lakes [16], which focuses on biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable development. The most important physical characteristic of the state of lakes is the water level, which is measured in-situ at level gauges and remotely using satellite altimetry [17,18,19,20,21]. The water level in the lakes must be measured daily and with an accuracy of at least 3 cm [15]
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