1st Istanbul International Geography Congress Proceedings Book
Regime characteristics of Turkey’s climatic regions determined ssing the Erinç Precipitation Efficiency Index
Selman Aydın, Mesut Şimşek, Gülden Çetinkaya, Muhammed Zeynel ÖztürkThis study examines the regime characteristics of the long-term monthly average maximum temperatures and total precipitation in Turkey’s climatic regions determined using the Erinç precipitation efficiency index. Although monthly and annual data maps showing the climatic regions determined using this index have been formed in many studies, the regime characteristics of the climatic regions have not been explained. Herein, annual Erinç precipitation efficiency indexes, which are calculated using the data obtained from 512 meteorology stations, are used to explain the regime characteristics of each climatic region. According to the climatic region map, the semihumid (58.8%) and semiarid (24.1%) regions are the broadest climatic regions, whereas the perhumid (3.3%) and arid (1.7%) regions are the narrowest climatic regions in Turkey. Areas with total annual total precipitation exceeding 800 mm are characterized by humid and perhumid climate, whereas those with precipitation below 400 mm are characterized by semiarid and arid climate. According to the differences between the maximum and minimum values of precipitation in each region, the highest and lowest intraannual precipitation variabilities are found in the perhumid climatic region. The monthly average of maximum temperatures (AMT) values for all the regions during cold periods are similar. The AMT differences/variances between the regions during the cold and warm periods are approximately 1°C and 10°C, respectively.