ABSTRACT
The relation between discharge or water level, temperature and rainfall is evaluated for nine karst springs/rivers using a daily time series analysis (autocorrelation and cross-correlation) covering a 30-year period (1984-2013). The study was conducted in order to qualitatively assess the applicability of long-term hydrological data set usage in time series analysis in order to compare different karst springs and their catchments characteristics. The results reveal that the storage capacity of larger systems and systems characterised by a more complex structure is typically greater, although such systems should not necessarily be defined as poorly karstified. Factors influencing the obtained results are determined in the study. Application of longer hydrological data sets is shown to provide valuable information on the hydrological properties of springs, hydrodynamic behaviour and the hydraulic properties of the corresponding aquifers. However, caution should be used when classifying karst systems into groups solely on the basis of the results of a time series analysis.
