A multifaceted analysis of the relationship between daily temperature of river water and air

Abstract

The aim of the study was to establish the strength and direction of the relationship between daily temperature of river water and air with the use of selected estimation methods. The relationship was assessed for the River Noteć and its tributaries (Western Poland), using the cross-correlation function and Granger causality. The study established cause-and-effect relations for "water-air" and "air-water" directions of influence. It was confirmed that forecasting the pattern of flowing water temperature from changes in air temperature yields better results when done based on data from the previous day. Results of modelling the relationship between data series with the use of the linear and natural cubic splines models confirmed the presence of a nonlinear relation. It was also established that there is a statistically significant correlation of random fluctuations for both temperature series on the same days. This made it possible to confirm the occurrence of short-term connections between water and air temperature. The results can be used to determine the qualities of thermal regimes and to predict temperature of river waters in the conditions of climate change.

Relationship between Water Temperature of Polish Rivers and Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation

“…The temperature of river water constitutes an important element of the hydrological regime, being subjected to daily, seasonal, annual, and multi-annual change [1]. Seasonal changes are the consequence of the influence of climatic factors predominant in a given geographical zone, whereas multi-annual changes may additionally point to the impact of local factors, also anthropogenic [2][3][4][5].…”

“…High correlations between annual and monthly air and river water temperature values have been demonstrated for various regions, among others in the United States and Canada [16,[20][21][22][23][24], in Asia and Eurasia [25][26][27][28], and in Europe [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Studies concerning the thermal regime of Polish rivers have also confirmed the existence of significant relations and the impact of air temperature on the variability of river water temperature [4,5,13,[37][38][39].…”

Spatial and Seasonal Dynamics of Inorganic Nitrogen and Phosphorous Compounds in an Orchard-Dominated Catchment with Anthropogenic Impacts

“…Seasonal changes in water temperature were generally closely related to the air temperature pattern [75,76]; however, the results should be treated with caution due to the clear diurnal water temperature dynamics observed in rivers and streams [77] which the grab sampling method does not take into account. Nevertheless, attention could be paid to the Da ńków stream (site T5), which was characterized by a lower annual temperature range compared to other sites.…”

Temperature Gradient Daily Dynamics Area and Time Zoning for Local Analysis of Air-Water Interaction

“…Yu (2019) suggests that direct measurements of air-water thermal flux can only be carried out for limited or local locations. Graf (2019) suggests that the analysis of the relationship between irradiation and thermal storage in water must be carried out in detail both spatially and temporally. For ecosystem analysis and utilization of coastal waters and lakes resources, detailed local scale information is needed, resulting from in situ measurements (Shinoda et al, 2019).…”