Thermal and ice regimes of the Danube river and its tributaries

Abstract

The aim of this study was to present an overview of the Danube thermal regime, its change and tendencies, with respect to time and along the river channel, and to elucidate these changes in relation to natural factors, whether geographic, morphologic, climatic, or anthropogenic, in the river channels or in the basins. The ice regime is closely linked to navigation, hydro energy, and to protection against floods. Therefore, another aim of this study is to compose the mean and extreme characteristics of the appearance and duration of ice phenomena and ice cover, and to examine their relationships with meteorological data. Data were processed in relation to air and water temperatures, water discharge, and characteristics of the ice phenomena and freeze-up, from the whole observation period, and particularly for the period 1956-1985. These data are processed and arranged in easy-to-survey tables; some are also in graphical form. The achieved results should be of use in project assessments for active interventions in the river, for example for cooling in energetics and industry, and in solution of ecological or other problems. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.