WATER TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS WITHIN A MAJOR RIVER SYSTEM.

Abstract

The paper examines the relationships between river water temperature, air temperature and stream flow measured continuously for one year at four sites along the main stream of the river Tees in northern England. Maximum and minimum river temperatures were found to correlate fairly closely with equivalent air temperatures at each site, but some emphasis was placed on the effects of hydrological factors on variations. The range of water temperature fluctuations was shown to increase upstream. On a shorter time scale, stream flow was also found to exert an important influence on river temperature during snowmelt and peak flow events arising from storm rainfall. Refs.