Data refer to on-site measurements and water samples collected in the mesotrophic eastern and eutrophic western basin of Lake Balaton. The data sets covers various physicochemical variables including water temperature, conductivity, pH, total suspended solids, Secchi depth, light extinction coefficient and chlorophyll a concentration for phytoplankton. Samples were collected with a tubular water column sampler.

Measurements of chlorophyll-a are part of lake monitoring, which is usually carried out by monthly sampling at many regular lake sites (5 to 17 sites depending on the intensity of the measurements over the years). The integrated sample represents the whole water column of this polymictic shallow lake with a mean lake depth of 1.2m. The photometric measurement satisfies the analytical standards of Ö-Norm in Austria.