Effects of water level decline in Lake Urmia, Iran, on local climate conditions

Dehghanipour, A.; Moshir Panahi, Davood; Mousavi, Hossein; Kalantari, Zahra; Tajrishy, Massoud

doi:10.3390/W12082153

Effects of water level decline in Lake Urmia, Iran, on local climate conditions

Title

Effects of water level decline in Lake Urmia, Iran, on local climate conditions

Author

Dehghanipour, A. (TU Delft Water Resources; Iran University of Science and Technology)
Moshir Panahi, Davood (Iran University of Science and Technology; Stockholm University)
Mousavi, Hossein (Amirkabir University of Technology)
Kalantari, Zahra (Stockholm University; Navarino Environmental Observatory)
Tajrishy, Massoud (Sharif University of Technology)

Date

2020

Abstract

Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran is the largest lake in Iran and the second largest saltwater lake in the world. The water level in Lake Urmia has decreased dramatically in recent years, due to drought, climate change, and the overuse of water resources for irrigation. This shrinking of the lake may affect local climate conditions, assuming that the lake itself affects the local climate. In this study, we quantified the lake's impact on the local climate by analyzing hourly time series of data on climate variables (temperature, vapor pressure, relative humidity, evaporation, and dewpoint temperature for all seasons, and local lake/land breezes in summer) for the period 1961-2016. For this, we compared high quality, long-term climate data obtained from Urmia and Saqez meteorological stations, located 30 km and 185 km from the lake center, respectively. We then investigated the effect of lake level decrease on the climate variables by dividing the data into periods 1961-1995 (normal lake level) and 1996-2016 (low lake level). The results showed that at Urmia station (close to the lake), climate parameters displayed fewer fluctuations and were evidently affected by Lake Urmia compared with those at Saqez station. The effects of the lake on the local climate increased with increasing temperature, with the most significant impact in summer and the least in winter. The results also indicated that, despite decreasing lake level, local climate conditions are still influenced by Lake Urmia, but to a lesser extent.

Subject

Lake Urmia
Lake/land breeze
Local climate
Temperature adjustment

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:dc6eeff8-b6e1-479a-abb9-880e4b4331bc

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/W12082153

ISSN

2073-4441

Source

Water, 12 (8), 1-15

Part of collection

Institutional Repository