Investigation of the Relationship between Altitude and Trend Slope in Climate Variables in Iran during 1987-2016

In the present study, the spatial and temporal changes of climate variables such as pan evaporation (Ep), temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), sunshine duration (SD), wind speed (W) and precipitation (P), as well as their relationship with altitude, were investigated. For this purpose, 68 meteorological stations with 30 years of data (1987-2016) throughout Iran on both seasonal and annual time scales were selected. Trend analysis of climate variables showed that over the past 30 years, most areas of Iran have become warmer and drier although all trends have not been significant. Investigation of the relationship between the trend slope of climate variables and altitude illustrated that there was no significant relationship between them during the study period on the annual time scale (p>0.1). However, in winter, the rate of increase in T (minimum, maximum and mean temperatures) and SD (p<0.1), as well as the rate of decrease in P (p<0.01), was significantly enhanced by increasing the altitude. The increase in mean and maximum T (p<0.1) and SD rates (p<0.001) in summer were significantly lower in the highlands than in the lowlands. In autumn, the trend slopes of minimum and mean T (p<0.05) were negatively correlated with altitude; in addition, the rates of increase in P and RH (p<0.05) in the highlands demonstrated a sharper increase. It seems, therefore, that most changes in climate variables have occurred in both autumn and winter. The results also showed that in winter, the highest rates of increase in Ts were related to the altitude of 1500-2000 m; however, the highest decrease in P belonged to the altitude of 2000-2500 m. In autumn, the highest rates of decrease in minimum and mean Ts had occurred in the altitude of 2000-2500 m; as well, he highest rate of increase in P was observed in the altitudes of both 0-500 m and 2000-2500 m.