Publication details
Temperature and precipitation fluctuations in the Czech Republic during the period of instrumental measurements
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Theoretical and Applied Climatology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00704-012-0604-3 |
| Field | Atmosphere sciences, meteorology |
| Keywords | secular station; instrumental period; homogenization; air temperature; precipitation; fluctuation; cyclicity; wavelet analysis; Czech Republic |
| Description | The history of early instrumental meteorological measurements in the Czech Lands is described. Using the PRODIGE method, long-term monthly temperature and precipitation series from selected secular stations were homogenised (for 10 and 12 stations, respectively). All the seasonal and annual temperature series for the common period 1882–2010 show a significant positive linear trend with accelerated warming from the 1970s onwards. No significant linear trends were disclosed in the series of seasonal and annual precipitation totals. Correlation coefficients between the Czech series analysed decrease as distances between measuring stations increase. A sharper decrease of correlations for precipitation totals displays much weaker spatial relationships than those for mean temperatures. Wavelet analysis reveals that very distinct annual cycles as well as the slightly weaker semi-annual ones are better expressed for temperature series than for precipitation. Statistically significant cycles longer than 1 year are temporally unstable and sporadic for precipitation, while in the temperature series cycles of 7.4–7.7 and 17.9–18.4 years were recorded as significant by all stations in 1882–2010. Czech homogenous temperature series correlate best with those of the Northern Hemisphere for annual, spring and summer values, but this relation is temporally unstable. Circulation indices, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI) and the Central European Zonal Index (CEZI), may explain the greater part of Czech temperature variability, especially from December to March and for the winter; however, this relationship is much weaker, or even random, for precipitation series. Further, relationships with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) are weak and random. Relatively weak coincidences exist between statistically significant cycles in the Czech series and those detected in NAOI, CEZI and SOI series. |
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