Correlation analysis of NIN03.4 SST and Inland Lake level variations monitored with satellite altimetry: Case studies of Lakes Hongze, Khanka, La-ang, Ulungur, Issyk-kul and Baikal

Climate change can sometimes be reflected in variations in lake levels, thus understanding variations in lake levels and their relationship to climate change plays an important role in studying climate change. In this study, about 10 years of Topex/Poseidon (TIP) altimetric data and 6 years of Jason-1 data were used to compute time series of level variations of six lakes in the Central and East Asia. The study sites were Hongze, La-ang, Ulungur, Khanka, Issyk-kul and Baikal Lakes. Time series of level variations were analyzed by means of the wavelet spectrum for inter-annual (between 2 to 4 years), annual and semiannual signals. Since 2000, water level variations of Issyk-kul, Ulungur and Khanka lakes were larger than those of Baikal and Hongze. Correlations between the NINO3.4 sea surface temperature (SST) and the level variations of the six lakes were analyzed. For Baikal and Khanka Lakes, the correlations were significant (+0.3834 and +0.3334) for 3 - 5 months after the occurrence of ENSO, while the correlation for La-ang Lake was the weakest (< 0.1), indicating that ENSO showed a lag influence on variation in lake levels in the Central and East Asia.