İhsan ÇİÇEK¹ & Neşe DUMAN^2
1Ankara University, Faculty of Letters, Geography Department ihsan.cicek@ankara.edu.tr
²Çankırı Karatekin Univesity, Faculty of Letters, Geography Department, korkmaznese@hotmail.com

SEASONAL AND ANNUAL PRECIPITATION TRENDS IN TURKEY

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The Mediterranean Basin is a region where global climate change will be most evident. Located in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin, Turkey is a potential area of risk, too. Climate change will significantly affect the high precipitation variability in the Mediterranean Basin. This study used seasonal and annual precipitation data from 1975-2008 from 83 meteorology stations to identify the precipitation trends in Turkey. Seasonal and annual precipitation analysis is performed with two types of statistical analyses. First, the presence of a monotonic increasing or decreasing trend is tested with the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test and, secondly, the slope of a linear trend is estimated with the nonparametric Sen’s method. These analyses revealed a decreasing trend in all seasonal and annual precipitation other than those in autumn, during which an increasing trend prevails throughout the country. While the northern coast of Turkey seems to have an increased precipitation trend other than in summer, a decrease can be observed in southern and central regions. The overall semi-arid qualities of these regions where precipitation rates fall call for a sustainable irrigation management.