Drivers of spatio-temporal variations in summer surface water temperatures of Arctic Fennoscandian lakes (2000–21)

  • Mingzhen Zhang Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Matti Leppäranta Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Atte Korhola Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Nina Kirchner Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; and Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Annika Granebeck Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; and Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Frederik Schenk Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; and Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Kaarina Weckström Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Maija Heikkilä Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Jan Weckström Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v43.9580
Keywords: Climate change, Arctic lakes, water temperature, topography, geochemistry, morphometry

Abstract

The Arctic region is covered with numerous small lakes whose ecosystems are vulnerable to current climate warming and resultant changes in water temperature, ice-cover duration and lake levels. Data on thermal features of these lakes are sparse, which hinders our understanding of the possible ecosystem impacts of the warming climate and climate feedbacks at larger spatial scales. We investigated spatial–temporal variations of lake surface water temperatures (LSWT) in 12 Arctic lakes in north-west Finnish Lapland and explored the predominant drivers of LSWTs by continuous year-round observations. The lake surface temperature data were recorded using thermistors at bi-hourly resolution during the years 2000, 2007–08 and 2019–2021. A large regional heterogeneity was observed in the timing of the maximum and minimum LSWTs and the overall patterns of the annual cycle. Our results reveal that July air temperature, maximum lake depth and altitude explained most of the variance in the summer LSWT (> 85%). The remaining variance was related to geographic location (longitude and latitude), lake morphometric features, such as lake area and catchment area, and certain physico-chemical characteristics, such as Secchi depth and dissolved organic carbon content. Our results provide new insights into thermal responses of different types of small Arctic lakes to climate change.

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Published
2024-08-08
How to Cite
Zhang M., Leppäranta M., Korhola A., Kirchner N., Granebeck A., Schenk F., Weckström K., Heikkilä M., & Weckström J. (2024). Drivers of spatio-temporal variations in summer surface water temperatures of Arctic Fennoscandian lakes (2000–21). Polar Research, 43. https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v43.9580
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Vol. 43 (2024)
Section
Research Articles
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