The use of long-term, high-frequency, automatic sampling data in a comparative study of the hypolimnia of two dissimilar Alpine lakes

Modern technology allows high-resolution measurements of water temperature and particle fluxes to be conducted automatically in lakes. Such measurements can obviously be useful in elucidating the mechanisms responsible for short-term anomalous events in lakes. If the measurements can be conducted over a sufficiently long period of time, however, they can also be useful in determining the likely effects of longer-term anomalies in forcing, such as those associated with climate change. We describe the results of several years of high-resolution measurements of temperatures and particle fluxes in the hypolimnia of two dissimilar lakes in the European Alps -Lej da Silvaplauna and Lago Maggiore (Bay of Pallanza) and show how they reflect both short-term and long-term forcing anomalies.