Spatio-temporal analysis of Maximum temperature over Iraq

Abstract

Monthly Maximum surface air temperature at 23 stations in Iraq were analyzed for temporal trends and spatial variation during 1980-2015.Seasonal and annual temperature was analyzed using Mann-Kendall test to detect the significant trend .The results of temporal analysis showed that during winter ,spring , summer and Autumn have a positive trend in all the parts of Iraq. A tendency has also been observed towards warmer years, with significantly warmer summer and spring periods and slightly warmer autumn and winter, The highest increase is (3.9) oC in Basrah during the summer. The results of spatial analysis using the ArcGIS showed that the seasonal temperature can be divided into two or three distinct areas with high temperature in the south and decreasing towards north, where the trend of spatial temperature were decreasing from south to the north in all the four seasons.

Keywords

• Trend, temperature, Mann-Kendall, ArcGIS, Iraq.