Spatial variations of climate indices in Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The present study explores the spatial variability of the continentality, oceanity and aridity indices in Turkey. Climatic indices are diagnostic tools used to describe climatic conditions and the state of a climate system. In this study, four indices were calculated using the climatic data from 229 meteorological stations in Turkey. The nature of the indices expresses general climatic features such as continentality, marine influences and aridity. The climatic indices used here are the Johansson Continentality (JC) Index, the Kerner Oceanity Index (KOI), the De Martonne Aridity Index (I DM ) and the Pinna Combinative (PV) Index. Furthermore, aridity characteristics in Turkey have been examined using the two separate periods (1960-1990 and 1991-2006). To assess the temperature and precipitation patterns in Turkey, the climatic indices were calculated by using monthly temperature and precipitation for the period 1960-2006. According to the results of the KOI, marine climates characteristics were dominant in the Black Sea region than in its Aegean and Mediterranean region. The JC index is used for the climatic classification between continental and oceanic climates. The continental effect was found across 25% of the country. The maximum continentality with a score of 71.5 has been found in the eastern Anatolia. Furthermore, semi-dry areas were increasing in the 1991-2006 period compared to 1960-1990. A significant correlation was found between the values of the JC index and the KOI. The JC index gives reasonable results for Turkey. The continental effect was found across 25% of the country. This analysis may be of benefit for the explanation of landscape characteristics and the rational utilization of water resources, agriculture and energy scenarios for the region in many areas of Turkey.

Vulnerability of Ukrainian Forests to Climate Change

“…As a rule, individual climate indices are not able to define all diversity of such basic drought parameters like intensity, duration, severity and spatial extent [39]. This problem can be mitigated by use of specialized bioclimatic indices which take into account either combinations of the drivers (like hydrothermal coefficients) or ensembles of different indices (e.g., [40,41]). …”

Temporal and spatial patterns of precipitation variability for annual, wet, and dry seasons in Turkey

“…Similarly, the North Anatolian Mountains in the north are parallel to the Black Sea coasts, in the west tending to be low, but in the east reach to 3942 meters in elevation. Consequently, spatial and temporal variation of climatic parameters such as precipitation in Turkey presents complex interrelationship between the topography, synoptic patterns, elevation and local orographic features (Deniz et al, 2010). The wet and dry season precipitation variability is also shown in Figure 3b and c. The precipitation patterns for wet and dry seasons are significantly different.…”

Spring temperature variability over Turkey since 1800 CE reconstructed from a broad network of tree-ring data

“…This vast area covers much of western Anatolia and includes the western Black Sea, Marmara and western Mediterranean regions. Much of this area is characterized by a Mediterranean climate that is primarily controlled by polar and tropical air masses (Türkeş, 1996a;Deniz et al, 2011). In winter, polar fronts from the Balkan Peninsula bring cold air that is centered in the Mediterranean.…”

“…Conversely, the dry, warm conditions in summer are dominated by weak frontal systems and maritime effects. Moreover, the Azores highpressure system in summer and anticyclonic activity from the Siberian high-pressure system often cause below normal precipitation and dry subhumid conditions over the region (Türkeş, 1999;Deniz et al, 2011). In this Mediterranean climate, annual mean temperature and precipitation range from 3.6 to 20.1 • C and from 295 to 2220 mm, respectively, both of which are strongly controlled by elevation (Deniz et al, 2011).…”