Stream temperature and discharge evolution in Switzerland over the last 50 years: annual and seasonal behaviour

Stream temperature and discharge are key hydro- logical variables for ecosystem and water resource management and are particularly sensitive to climate warming. Despite the wealth of meteorological and hydrological data, few studies have quantified observed stream temperature trends in the Alps. This study presents a detailed analysis of stream temperature and discharge in 52 catchments in Switzerland, a country covering a wide range of alpine and lowland hydrological regimes. The influence of discharge, precipitation, air temperature, and upstream lakes on stream temperatures and their temporal trends is analysed from multi-decadal to seasonal timescales. Stream temperature has significantly increased over the past 5 decades, with positive trends for all four seasons. The mean trends for the last 20 years are + 0.37 ± 0.11 ◦ C per decade for water temperature, resulting from the joint effects of trends in air temperature (+0.39 ± 0.14 ◦C per decade), discharge (−10.1 ± 4.6 % per decade), and precipitation (−9.3±3.4% per decade). For a longer time period (1979–2018), the trends are +0.33 ± 0.03 ◦ C per decade for water temperature, +0.46±0.03°C per decade for air temperature, −3.0 ± 0.5 % per decade for discharge, and −1.3 ± 0.5 % per decade for precipitation. Furthermore, we show that snow and glacier melt compensates for air temperature warming trends in a transient way in alpine streams. Lakes, on the contrary, have a strengthening effect on downstream water temperature trends at all elevations. Moreover, the identified stream temperature trends are shown to have critical impacts on ecological and economical temperature thresholds (the spread of fish diseases and the usage of water for industrial cooling), especially in lowland rivers, suggesting that these waterways are becoming more vulnerable to the increasing air temperature forcing. Resilient alpine rivers are expected to become more vulnerable to warming in the near future due to the expected reductions in snow- and glacier-melt inputs. A detailed mathematical framework along with the necessary source code are provided with this paper.

Modeling the monthly mean stream temperature dynamics

Aurélien Gallice, Wolf Hendrik Huwald, Michael Lehning, Bettina Schaefli

Water temperature is a hydrological factor which affects the habitat suitability of many aquatic (fish) species, and is therefore of great concern in the actual context of climate change. Two types of models are currently used to simulate stream temperature: physically-based models, which are typically applied only over limited areas, and regression models, which usually lack the ability to make predictions in ungauged areas. As an attempt to bridge the gap between these two types, we propose a hybrid model based on the energy-balance equation, in which the terms are related to catchment physiographic variables via empirical relationships. The physiographic variables are chosen so as to be available over the entire country (Switzerland), enabling the model to be used in ungauged catchments. This approach is on the one hand more physically-based than the usual regression models – hereby limiting the degree of empiricism associated with its derivation – but on the other hand seeks simplicity and applicability over large areas – making it more practical than the usual physically-based models. In order to test this model, we use it to predict the monthly mean stream temperature over 23 selected medium-sized catchments (3–300 km2) in Switzerland. While selecting the catchments, particular attention is given to cover a large range of different geomorphological conditions, especially regarding altitude, slope and aspect. It is shown that the model compares favorably with standard empirical models such as multi-linear regression.

2014

Deep-water coastal upwelling events during wintertime in a large lake (Lake Geneva)

David Andrew Barry, Andrea Cimatoribus, Ulrich Lemmin, Rafael Sebastian Reiss

Convective winter cooling is an important process in the annual cycle of a lake ecosystem, because it brings oxygen to the deeper layers. However, in deep lakes, convective processes are often not strong enough to extend the mixing down to the deepest layers. This may become even more problematic in the future considering climate change and potentially milder winters. In large deep lakes, two other processes originating in the coastal zone can significantly contribute to winter deep water renewal: cold water density currents on the lateral slopes caused by differential cooling between the shallow literal zone and the deep off-shore region, and upwelling of deep water masses over the lateral slopes which results from wind forcing and may be influenced by the Coriolis force. Previous field experiments in Lake Geneva, the largest freshwater lake in Western Europe (max. depth 310 m), have shown that cold-water density currents are a common phenomenon during wintertime, frequently reaching the thermocline at O(100m) depth. As part of a project investigating winter mixing dynamics in Lake Geneva, we examine wind-driven, Coriolis-influenced upwelling in order to better understand its role in the deep-water exchange during the weakly stratified period (December-March). The study is based on field observations taken on the northern shore of the lake, 20 km west of Lausanne in the winters of 2017-19. Near-bottom water temperatures are inferred from a fiber-optic based Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) system, laid down on the lateral slope starting at the shore, with a spatial and temporal resolution of O(1m) and O(0.1°C), respectively. Temperature and current velocities in the water column are recorded by several ADCP and thermistor chain moorings. The data set is completed by regular CTD campaigns following wind events favoring upwelling. These field measurements were combined with a validated 3D hydrodynamic model (MITgcm) in order to analyze and quantify the exchange between the littoral zones and deeper parts of the lake. It was observed that following medium to strong northeast-bound wind events (i.e. winds parallel to the main axis of the central lake) lasting for at least one day, near-shore temperatures at all instruments suddenly dropped to the same temperatures as those in the deep open waters and remained low for several days. This indicates that, triggered by persistent wind-stress and under the influence of the Coriolis force, hypolimnetic water reached the surface in the near shore zone, where it is subject to heat and gas exchange with the atmosphere, before returning to the deep layers. Numerical modeling of these events showed comparable results and allowed to trace the origin of this cold water to the deep layers. Our field observations and the numerical results suggest that in addition to the previously observed cold-water density currents, wind-driven upwelling is a common phenomenon in Lake Geneva during the weakly stratified winter period and potentially a significant mechanism for deep-water renewal.

2019

Deep-water coastal upwelling events during wintertime in a large lake (Lake Geneva)

David Andrew Barry, Andrea Cimatoribus, Ulrich Lemmin, Rafael Sebastian Reiss

2019