Abstract
Specifying seasons is one of the most significant and arduous parts of climatology studies. In the present study, seasons are defined to apparent temperature index. For determining changes in the length, start, and end dates of the season in Iran in line with global climate change, in this research we used daily data of apparent temperature for 32 synoptic stations with locations and topography over a 60-year period (1959–2018). Temperature indices used for determining the start of seasons are thresholds of apparent temperatures of 0 and 20 degrees, with a 10-day continuation and without reverting to the initial conditions during this period for winter and summer, respectively. In the same vein, transitional seasons were specified and changes were analyzed using linear regression. The findings revealed that, in various regions, the start of spring and summer occur earlier while the start of fall and winter are delayed. The biggest statistically significant changes are observed at the start of the spring and fall seasons, as the increase is 2.25 days for summer and 1.5 days for winter per decade. Therefore, the duration of cold seasons have decreased and the duration of warm seasons have increased in climatic regions. These changes are statistically significant in foothill and high-altitude regions; the hot and dry climatic range is expanding with the increase and decrease of the summer and winter length, respectively. However, considering the inhomogeneity of altitude and geographical phenomena in the Iranian plateau and its flat northern and southern regions, these changes are not uniform or equivalent. We can say that, overall, climate change, as a direct factor influencing season change and climatic belts, plays a more influential role in comparison with local factors.
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All data used in the study are not freely available online. However, the data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
The manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration. The manuscript has not been published previously (partly or in full) unless the new work concerns an expansion of previous work. Our study is not split up into several parts to increase the number of submissions and submitted to various journals or to one journal over time. No data has been fabricated or manipulated.
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The authors thank the National Iran Meteorological Organization (irimo.ir) for providing data.
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RD (as the corresponding author) pursued the idea, analyzed all datasets and results, and prepared the draft. BA (second author) studied and revised the manuscript.
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Doostan, R., Alijani, B. Evaluating the onset, end, and length of seasons in selected stations in Iran. Theor Appl Climatol 151, 13–28 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04259-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04259-2