Terrain Segmentation of Greece Using the Spatial and Seasonal Variation of Reference Crop Evapotranspiration. (11th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aschonitis, Vassilis; Miliaresis, George; Demertzi, Kleoniki; Papamichail, Dimitris
• Other Names: Gonzalez Jorge E. Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Advances in meteorology. Volume 2016(2016)
• Publication Date: 2016-01-11
• Subjects: Meteorology -- Periodicals; Meteorology; Periodicals; 551.505
• DOI: 10.1155/2016/3092671
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1687-9309

Abstract

Abstract : The study presents a combination of techniques for integrated analysis of reference crop evapotranspiration (E T o ) in GIS environment. The analysis is performed for Greece and includes the use of (a) ASCE-standardized Penman-Monteith method for the estimation of 50-year mean monthlyE T o, (b) cross-correlation and principal components analysis for the analysis of the spatiotemporal variability ofE T o, (c)K -means clustering for terrain segmentation to regions with similar temporal variability ofE T o, and (d) general linear models for the description ofE T o based on clusters attributes. Cross-correlation revealed a negative correlation ofE T o with both elevation and latitude and a week positive correlation with longitude. The correlation betweenE T o and elevation was maximized during the warm season, while the correlation with latitude was maximized during winter. The first two principal components accounted for the 97.9% of total variance of mean monthlyE T o .K -means segmented Greece to 11 regions/clusters. The categorical factor of cluster number together with the parameters of elevation, latitude, and longitude described satisfactorily theE T o through general linear models verifying the robustness of the cluster analysis. This research effort can contribute to hydroclimatic studies and to environmental decision support in relation to water resources management in agriculture.