Effect of Environmental Conditions and Morphometric Parameters on Surface Water Temperature in Polish Lakes

The study evaluated the effect of environmental conditions and morphometric parameters on lake water temperature changes. The analysis was carried out on the basis of 14 lakes located in northern Poland. The assessment was based on the daily water and air temperatures from 1972 to 2016. It took into account the location of lakes (latitude, longitude, altitude) morphometric parameters (surface area, maximum and mean depth, volume), hydrological processes (rate of water exchange, course of ice phenomena), and trophic status (water transparency) as factors that can modify lake water temperature changes. Direction and rate of air and water temperature changes were analysed by means of Mann–Kendall’s and Sen’s tests. Cluster analysis (CA) was applied to group lakes characterised by similar water temperature changes. The effect of climatic and non-climatic parameters on a lake’s water temperature was assessed on the basis of principal component analysis (PCA). Water temperatures in the lakes in the years 1972–2016 were characterised by a higher rate of increase of 0.43 °C·dec−1 than the air temperature decrease of 0.34 °C·dec−1. The analysis showed a faster rate of heating of waters in western Poland. This can be explained by shorter duration of ice cover. Moreover, the changes of water temperature were affected by other factors, including the location of the lakes, their morphometric parameters, wind speed, water transparency and water exchange time