Spatial analysis of the annual and seasonal aridity trends in the Main Olive-Growing Areas of Extremadura (southwestern Spain)
- 1Universidad de Extremadura, Escuela de Ingenierías Industriales, Departamento de Expresión Gráfica, Badajoz, Spain (fjmoral@unex.es)
- 2Universidad de Extremadura, Escuela de Ingenierías Agrarias, Departamento de Expresión Gráfica, Badajoz, Spain (frebollo@unex.es)
- 3Universidad de Extremadura, Escuela de Ingenierías Agrarias, Departamento de de Ingeniería del Medio Agronómico y Forestal, Badajoz, Spain (cristinaam@unex.es)
- 4Universidad de Extremadura, Escuela de Ingenierías Agrarias, Departamento de de Ingeniería del Medio Agronómico y Forestal, Badajoz, Spain (lourebollo@unex.es)
- 5Universidad de Extremadura, Escuela de Ingenierías Agrarias, Departamento de de Ingeniería del Medio Agronómico y Forestal, Badajoz, Spain (abgarcia@unex.es)
- 6Universidad de Extremadura, Escuela de Ingenierías Agrarias, Departamento de de Ingeniería del Medio Agronómico y Forestal, Badajoz, Spain (llpsimon@unex.es)
- 7Universidad de Extremadura, Escuela de Ingenierías Agrarias, Departamento de de Ingeniería del Medio Agronómico y Forestal, Badajoz, Spain (fhguisado@unex.es)
Understanding drought, or wetness, conditions is essential not only for the rational use of water resources but also for explaining landscape and ecological characteristics. Climate change is expected to lead to an increase in aridity in many parts of the world. In semi-arid regions with warm climates, aridity poses a significant hazard, leading to the potential for desertification due to increased precipitation variability and prolonged droughts. Aridity indices can be employed to identify areas susceptible to desertification. In order to analyse the distribution of aridity in Extremadura, particularly in the areas covered by the olive oil denominations of origin in this region (the cultivation of olive trees is of great economic and social importance in Extremadura), the De Martonne aridity index (IDM) has been used. Temperatura and precipitation data from 81 weather stations located throughout Extremadura, within the 1951–2010 period, were utilised to calculate IDM at every station. Later, the IDM was mapped using an integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) and a multivariate geostatistical approach (regression-kriging) that incorporated comprehensive secondary information on elevation. Annual an seasonal IDM-kriged maps were generated. Finally, temporal trends were analysed using the Mann-Kendall test, and the Sen’s estimator was utilised to estimate the magnitude of trends. An increase in aridity, as the IDM decreased, was apparent during the study period, mainly in the more humid locations of the north. An increase of the seasonal IDM was also found, but it was only statistically significant in some locations in spring and summer, with the highest decreasing rate in the north of Extremadura. Although the denominations of origin in the north of the region have higher decreasing rates, leading to a drier climate, the areas in the centre and south of the region and, in consequence, the denominations of origins within these areas, with more arid climates, can be more seriously affected by the increasing aridity.
Keywords: Aridity; Climate Change; De Martonne aridity index; Extremadura; Olive tree.
How to cite: Moral García, F. J., Rebollo Castillo, F. J., Aguirado Montero, C., Rebollo Moyano, L., García Martín, A., Paniagua Simón, L. L., and Honorio Guisado, F.: Spatial analysis of the annual and seasonal aridity trends in the Main Olive-Growing Areas of Extremadura (southwestern Spain), EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-5594, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5594, 2024.
