The Aare is the longest river that both rises and ends entirely in Switzerland. It has a special importance to the Swiss federal city of Berne, where it winds its way through several u-turns and passes beneath 18 bridges (dixit Wikipedia)
We love the Aare, as it is our companion through years and seasons, warm and cold days. Something we can rely on, even in uncertain times. I've gathered some data to see how the Aare went through the year. It's here for you to scroll through (and click on all the things), to learn something, to read something different, to enjoy the beauty of the data, or even just to find the new years wishes at the end.
We love the Aare, as it is our companion through years and seasons, warm and cold days. Something we can rely on, even in uncertain times. I've gathered some data to see how the Aare went through the year. It's here for you to scroll through (and click on all the things), to learn something, to read something different, to enjoy the beauty of the data, or even just to find the new years wishes at the end.
Data for Berne, from FOEN (BAFU) and MeteoSwiss.
At first sight we notice that the Aares water temperature is the less dramatically changing little sister of the surrounding air temperature. But what else can we learn?
When over a longer and longer period of time, we can see that in general the water is colder than the air in spring and summer, while it is warmer in parts of autumn and winter.
Air temperature on the x-axis, water temperature on the y-axis. Each dot represents the max. temperatures of a day of the year. The diagonal is where water and air temperature are equal.
This can also be seen when comparing air and water temperature directly.
While in , the air temperature gets into the negative, the water temperature is around 5°C.
As comes, both water and air get warmer, but the water temperature mostly remains below the air temperature. (Dots right of the diagonal.)
In the curve flattens again, while maximum air temperatures are above 30°C, the water barely gets warmer than 20.
In the weather cools down, and so does the water, however, the water cools down slower. This results in the water at some times being warmer than the air temperature. (Dots left of the diagonal.)
The waterlevel varies rapidly. Partly because of rain, but also melting snow and upstream watergates play an important role. However if we take a long term (31 days) average we can see that in general the waterlevel is higher in summer than in winter.
The waterlevel at a certain position correlates linearly with the flow. (Except for low levels, where the influence of the river bed is more significantly slowing the water down.)
This means the water flows quicker in the summer than in winter.
The Aare is always there, its water can be cold or warm, high or low, fast or slow.
Some days are great for swimming, others for walking by,
and some days I admit, it's of no use at all.
P.S. Don't forget to click the bottle!