Abstract
The paper identifies relationships between lake water levels and indices of macroscale atmospheric circulations: Arctic Oscillation (AO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), East Atlantic (EA), and Scandinavian pattern (SCAND). Correlation coefficients between synchronous and asynchronous series of monthly water levels and 4 circulation indices were calculated. Based on Ward hierarchical grouping considering 156 correlation coefficients, the groups of lakes were designated due to the strength and term of relation of circulation indices with lake water levels. It was found that these links are not strong but noticeable. The strength of relationships varies in space and time, and the designated groups of lakes refer not only to the climatic diversity of the studied area, but also to some extent to the types of water levels regime. The observed relationships are the most important in the case of AO and NAO (particularly in winter period), and slightly weaker for EA and SCAND. The analysis used mean monthly water levels of 15 lakes in northern Poland from 1976–2015.
Highlights
Water-level fluctuations are one of the basic characteristics of the hydrological regime of lakes determining the occurrence and course of many processes and phenomena affecting the functioning of a given water body [1]
The analysis of the matrix of coefficients of correlation of monthly water levels with Arctic Oscillation (AO) indices shows that the strength of correlations between the variables is temporally and spatially variable
The results of the analyses show that during warm winters in the positive phase of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)/AO
Summary
Water-level fluctuations are one of the basic characteristics of the hydrological regime of lakes determining the occurrence and course of many processes and phenomena affecting the functioning of a given water body [1]. Water level fluctuations are determined by climatic factors and depth of the lake basin, connection with groundwaters, surface area and shape of the lake’s catchment, surface area of the lake itself, degree and character of its flow-through character, and human pressure. Climatic factors determining the volume of river and lake alimentation include atmospheric precipitation and air temperature. They are in turn to various degrees determined by teleconnection patterns. Climatic conditions in Europe show the most thoroughly documented effect of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) (e.g., on terms of snowmelts [2], ice cover of the Baltic Sea [3], variability of air temperatures in winter [4]), and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) (e.g., on maximum and minimum air temperatures, cloudiness, and precipitation [5], humid and warm winters, as well as among others the period of plant flowering [6], atmospheric precipitation, flow rates in rivers, and water resources [7]). The effect of EA on e.g., exceptionally low temperatures in winter 2010 [8]
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