Effect of teleconnection patterns on ice conditions in lakes in lowland Poland

Abstract

Ice conditions in lakes are one of the basic factors considerably affecting the functioning of lake ecosystems, and the term of ice end modifies the course of further processes (thermal stratification, biological conditions, etc.) occurring outside the winter season. The paper presents the analysis of the effect of teleconnection patterns (NAO, SCAND, EA, EAWR) on ice conditions in lakes in North Poland, determining the relations between the teleconnection conditions in the cold half-year and selected features of the ice regime, i.e. dates of ice start and ice end, ice duration, and maximum ice thickness. Deviations of values of the aforementioned parameters in positive and negative phases of the considered teleconnection patterns were calculated in reference to mean values from the years 1956-2014. Two of them were determined to have considerable effect on the parameters of the ice regime, namely NAO, modifying ice start and ice end, ice duration, and maximum ice thickness in the season, and SCAND, considerably changing ice end, ice duration, and maximum ice thickness. The EA teleconnection pattern only affects ice end, and EAWR shows no correlations with the analysed ice parameters in lakes.

Effect of climate warming on a change in thermal and ice conditions in the largest lake in Poland – Lake Śniardwy

“…According to the authors, the recorded changes in water temperature and oxygen content in Lake Śniardwy were typical of strongly mixed lakes. The inflow of waters from the hypolimnion can obscure (delay) the direct effect of the atmosphere on the thermal regime, and the closely related ice conditions (Ptak et al, 2019a). Smaller depth of non-stratified lakes (or like in the case of Śniardwytheir large surface area) causes smaller possibilities of accumulation of heat, released to the atmosphere faster (in the conditions of lack of inflow of warmer waters from the hypolimnion in the autumn-winter season).…”

Changes in the Thickness of Ice Cover on Water Bodies Subject to Human Pressure (Silesian Upland, Southern Poland)

“…Water bodies in which there is some heated water retained are characteristic elements of industrial landscapes and those of urban-industrial sites, and they typically occur next to power plants, mines, and other industrial plants. However, those are a small part of the general number of water bodies in the Silesian Upland (Solarski et al, 2011;Machowski, 2013), where the vast majority are characterized by a natural or quasi-natural ice regime, as demonstrated by the fact that the duration of occurrence of ice phenomena, ice cover and ice thickness are not significantly different from the values observed in lakes located in other parts of Poland (Choiński, 2007a,b;Marszelewski and Skowron, 2009;Choiński and Ptak, 2012;Barańczuk et al, 2017;Barańczuk and Barańczuk, 2018;Ptak et al, 2019).…”

The disappearance of ice cover on temperate lakes (Central Europe) as a result of climate warming

“…For the purpose of selecting lakes characterised by a similar ice cover regime, a CA was applied. The assessment of similarities and differences between lakes in the scope of ICS, ICE, ICD, and MICT employed Ward’s method (Ptak et al 2019a,b,c). The applied similarity measure was square Euclidean distance.…”

“…In the case of lakes, numerous studies have proven that the changes caused by observed global warming are an important influence on their functioning (Li et al, 2018; Woelders et al, 2018). As emphasised by Ptak et al (2019a,b,c), an important factor for the functioning of lake ecosystems is the presence of the ice cover. By isolating the water from external factors, the ice cover completely changes the functioning of many processes (no undulation, reduced light supply, etc.).…”