Long-term changes of the ice regime of rivers in Latvia

The ice regime of rivers is considered a sensitive indicator of climate change. This paper summarises the results of research on the long-term changes in the ice regime parameters under changing climate conditions and their regional peculiarities in Latvia from 1945 to 2012. The ice cover duration o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrology Research 2016-08, Vol.47 (4), p.782-798
Main Authors: Latkovska, Inese, Apsīte, Elga, Elferts, Didzis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air temperature
Breakup
Climate
Climate change
Climatic conditions
Duration
Ecosystems
Hydrology
Ice
Ice breakup
Ice cover
Ice formation
Ice thickness
Long-term changes
Phenology
Reduction
Regional climates
Rivers
Statistical analysis
Statistical significance
Studies
Temperature effects
Trends
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Summary:The ice regime of rivers is considered a sensitive indicator of climate change. This paper summarises the results of research on the long-term changes in the ice regime parameters under changing climate conditions and their regional peculiarities in Latvia from 1945 to 2012. The ice cover duration on Latvian rivers has decreased during recent decades. The research results demonstrated that there is a positive trend as regards the formation of the ice cover and in 31.8% of the cases the trend is statistically significant at p < 0.05. As regards the breaking up of ice, there is a statistically significant negative trend in 93.2% of the cases at p < 0.05. This indicates an earlier ice break-up date, which in turn, displays a strong correlation with the increase of the air temperature. The same pattern applies to the reduction of the length of ice cover (a statistically significant trend in 86.4% of the cases at p < 0.05). In approximately 60% of the cases, there is a statistically significant reduction of the ice thickness. The estimated winter severity index indicates warmer winters over the last 20 years as well as regional differences in the west–east direction.
ISSN:0029-1277
1998-9563
2224-7955
DOI:10.2166/nh.2016.012