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This work aims to investigate the changes in Thornthwaite’s humidity (Ih) and aridity (Ia) indices under different soil water storage capacities (SWC), i.e., 100, 150, 200, and 300 mm. The differentiated ability of soils to store water (SWC) can highly affect the water availability for the plants, especially during the warm and dry summer periods, but also to enhance flood phenomena in winter. In this study, the indices were estimated for 70 long-operating meteorological stations in Greece, owned by the Hellenic Meteorological Service, for the time period 1975–1997. The results, based on averaged values of the operating period of the stations, indicate that at low SWC (100 mm), Ih explicits the highest values (26.1 average for all stations), decreasing with SWC at an average rate of −0.0625 per mm. Its values are by 69% decreased at SWC = 300 mm compared to 100 mm, whereas the respective percentages present high variability among stations (from 21% in Corfu to 100% in several areas including Evrytania, Athens, Thessaloniki, Chania, Paros, Kozani, and elsewhere. Similarly, Ia maximizes (54.4) at SWC = 100 mm, decreasing for higher SWCs with a rate of −0.0679 per mm. Ia decreases by 27% as SWC increases from 100 to 300 mm, whereas for specific stations, the reduction is variable, being maximum (44%) in Florina. Ih and Ia are the main attributes in Thornthwaite’s aridity climate classification system and are also highly affected by SWC. When adopting higher SWCs, the decreases of Ih, which suggest lower water surpluses, are accompanied with also decreased Ia values, which are associated with lower water deficits for vegetation. However, the magnitudes of these decreases are much higher for Ih compared to Ia, indicating that enhancing SWCs impacts more on the water surpluses than the deficits. In conclusion, it can be stated that the changes in the adopted SWC values affect differently the Ih and Ia attributes according to the local climatic conditions and also the magnitude of SWC, and it affects the aridity climatic categorization in specific areas.

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Sensitivity Analysis of Thornthwaite’s Humidity and Aridity Indices in Greece

  • 会议论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Nikolaos D. Proutsos,
  • Ioannis X. Tsiros,
  • Areti Tseliou,
  • Christos Koukis

摘要

This work aims to investigate the changes in Thornthwaite’s humidity (Ih) and aridity (Ia) indices under different soil water storage capacities (SWC), i.e., 100, 150, 200, and 300 mm. The differentiated ability of soils to store water (SWC) can highly affect the water availability for the plants, especially during the warm and dry summer periods, but also to enhance flood phenomena in winter. In this study, the indices were estimated for 70 long-operating meteorological stations in Greece, owned by the Hellenic Meteorological Service, for the time period 1975–1997. The results, based on averaged values of the operating period of the stations, indicate that at low SWC (100 mm), Ih explicits the highest values (26.1 average for all stations), decreasing with SWC at an average rate of −0.0625 per mm. Its values are by 69% decreased at SWC = 300 mm compared to 100 mm, whereas the respective percentages present high variability among stations (from 21% in Corfu to 100% in several areas including Evrytania, Athens, Thessaloniki, Chania, Paros, Kozani, and elsewhere. Similarly, Ia maximizes (54.4) at SWC = 100 mm, decreasing for higher SWCs with a rate of −0.0679 per mm. Ia decreases by 27% as SWC increases from 100 to 300 mm, whereas for specific stations, the reduction is variable, being maximum (44%) in Florina. Ih and Ia are the main attributes in Thornthwaite’s aridity climate classification system and are also highly affected by SWC. When adopting higher SWCs, the decreases of Ih, which suggest lower water surpluses, are accompanied with also decreased Ia values, which are associated with lower water deficits for vegetation. However, the magnitudes of these decreases are much higher for Ih compared to Ia, indicating that enhancing SWCs impacts more on the water surpluses than the deficits. In conclusion, it can be stated that the changes in the adopted SWC values affect differently the Ih and Ia attributes according to the local climatic conditions and also the magnitude of SWC, and it affects the aridity climatic categorization in specific areas.