Air temperature data from five enclosed limestone sinkholes of various sizes and shapes on the Hetzkogel Plateau near Lunz, Austria (1300 m MSL), have been analyzed to determine the effect of sinkhole geometry on temperature minima, diurnal temperature ranges, temperature inversion strengths, and vertical temperature gradients.Data were analyzed for a non-snow-covered October night and for a snow-covered December night when the temperature fell as low as Ϫ28.5ЊC.A surprising finding is that temperatures were similar in two sinkholes with very different drainage areas and depths.A three-layer model was used to show that the skyview factor is the most important topographic parameter controlling cooling for basins in this size range in nearcalm, clear-sky conditions and that the cooling slows when net longwave radiation at the floor of the sinkhole is nearly balanced by the ground heat flux.
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Whiteman et al. (2004) studied this question.