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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">ESSDD</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>Earth System Science Data Discussions</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">ESSDD</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">1866-3591</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name></publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/essd-2026-707</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>ALPAKAS: Alpine hydrographs and catchment attributes for karst springs</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Joger</surname>
<given-names>Felix</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5310-9548</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Thinius</surname>
<given-names>Pauline</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0650-6100</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Chen</surname>
<given-names>Zhao</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0076-7079</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Hartmann</surname>
<given-names>Andreas</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0407-742X</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Goldscheider</surname>
<given-names>Nico</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8428-5001</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Liesch</surname>
<given-names>Tanja</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8648-5333</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Schubert</surname>
<given-names>Gerhard</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Broda</surname>
<given-names>Stefan</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6858-6368</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Berlin, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Applied Geosciences, Karlsruhe, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Dresden University of Technology (TUD), Institute of Groundwater Management, Dresden, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>GeoSphere Austria, Vienna, Austria</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>03</day>
<month>09</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>38</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Felix Joger et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://essd.copernicus.org/preprints/essd-2026-707/">This article is available from https://essd.copernicus.org/preprints/essd-2026-707/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://essd.copernicus.org/preprints/essd-2026-707/essd-2026-707.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://essd.copernicus.org/preprints/essd-2026-707/essd-2026-707.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Approximately 40 % of the European Alps consist of karstifiable rock. Due to their distinct recharge, storage, and discharge properties, karst aquifers are key components of the hydrological cycle and water supply in the Alpine region. However, large-sample datasets enabling comparative and data-driven analyses of karst spring discharge are currently lacking. Here, we present ALPAKAS (ALPine hydrographs and catchment Attributes for KArst Springs), the first large-sample benchmark dataset specifically dedicated to karst springs. ALPAKAS comprises 242 daily and 183 hourly quality-controlled and consistently preprocessed discharge time series from karst spring stations distributed across the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) area, with stations located in seven countries. The dataset is complemented by both existing catchment delineations and circular catchment approximations, catchment-aggregated meteorological time series at multiple spatial scales, and a comprehensive set of static catchment attributes describing topography, positioning, meteorology, land cover, soil properties, and hydrogeology. In addition, the dataset includes karst-specific indices directly derived from the karst spring hydrographs.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;ALPAKAS is available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19329694 (Joger et al., 2026) under an open-access licence and is accompanied by comprehensive documentation. By providing a harmonized, large-sample compilation of karst spring catchments across diverse Alpine settings, the dataset enables comparative analyses, model benchmarking, and robust assessments of hydrogeological processes and climate change impacts.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="38"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft</funding-source>
<award-id>529209885</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>Austrian Science Fund</funding-source>
<award-id>I 6688-N</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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