Preliminary statistical analysis of hydrographic data of the Sauce Grande Shallw Lake (Argentina)

FORNERÓN, C.F.; PICCOLO, M.C.; PERILLO, G.M.E.

Lake Sunapee

Workshop; GLEON 13; 2011

GLEON

The Sauce Grande shallow lake (38°57? S - 61°24´W) is located in the Southwest of Buenos Aires province (Argentina). The location and morphometry of this natural water body is controlled by a coastal dunes system. The Sauce Grande River discharges into the lake and then continues its flow to the sea. However, since the region is currently undergoing a strong drought, the sluices connecting the water reservoir to the sea are closed. The actual depth of the lake is 1.4 m. A buoy was installed on February 2011 in the center of the lake to measure the main meteorological and hydrographical parameters at a 5 min interval. A preliminary statistical analysis of the measured data for the period February - August is presented. The maximum and minimum air temperature were 33.3 and 0.5 ºC, respectively, typical of summer and winter conditions. Water temperature varied between 28 and 0.5 ºC in the studied period. The Pearson coefficient between both temperatures was significant (r2 = 0.87, p<0.000001). Maximum wind velocity reached 62 km/h from the NW, A high relationship was found between suspended sediment in the shallow lake and the wind velocity. Electrical conductivity oscillated between 5 y 11 mS/cm. Spectral analysis of temperature time series indicated maximum peaks in diurnal, semidiurnal, 7 and 4.5 h periods. The last two periods correspond to typical synoptic weather situations, which demonstrate the strong influence of the weather on the shallow lake conditions.