Journal of Spatial Analysis

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Occurrence conditions for severe snow blizzard in the west-north of Iran
 
Abstract
The blizzard incident is one of the climatic hazards that occurs due to the combination of other climatic factors such as temperature (below zero), snow and wind (at 15 m/s). In this research, the conditions of blizzard in Northwest of Iran are carried out using statistical methods. By analyzing all the meteorological codes of the blizzard (36, 37, 38 and 39) during the statistical period from 1987 to 2016 for 11 synoptic stations of the study area, codes with severe blizzard (37, 39) were selected. Then, using the geopotential height, wind and Leveling temperature of 500 and 850 hpa, obtained from the NCEP/NCAR open source database, the synoptic patterns of blizzard incident analyzed. Statistical analysis of the relationship between the effects of geographic factors on severe blizzard has shown that the factor of height has the greatest effect on intensity, increase and incident spatial differences of this phenomenon. The study of the synoptic patterns of the incident of the blizzard phenomenon showed that five main patterns play a role in creating it in the region. The synoptic patterns of development include the formation of a low cut-off center, a long landing passage from Iran, the formation of a relatively deep and drawn Mediterranean East, The rectangular system is a rex-shaped system and is an umbilical bundle system. Among the patterns obtained, the patterns that were bundled were, the most important role in the survival and transfer of flows associated with cold, and other patterns, despite the frequency they had, were periodically of severity and weakness.
Keywords: Blizzard; North West; Wind speed; Temperatures below zero; Synoptic patterns
Human life is always affected by climatic phenomena, especially the hazards of the two variables of temperature and wind. One of the most important simultaneous phenomena of these two variables is the blizzard, which is caused by heavy snow, stormy winds, and very low temperatures. This climate risk can cause damage to various areas of horticulture, agriculture, urbanization, transportation, and so on. This phenomenon is present in regions such as Canada and North America with a cold weather wave that results from turbulence in the winters and damages the lawns in these areas. There are plenty of local storm in the polar regions and it lasts for a few days. For example, the wind in the Adelie land in the Antarctic is so severe that the area is known as the storm Land. In Iran, the most significant blizzard occurred in mid-February 1350, resulting in the deaths of more than 4,000 people across the country. In this research, considering the characteristics of the blizzard phenomenon at the time of occurrence (severity, continuity, expansion, and time of occurrence), the study has been conducted to determine the statistical synoptic patterns in the northwest region.
In this research, the studied area is northwest of Iran, which includes 6 provinces (Ardebil, West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Zanjan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Hamedan). In order to study, the days with the blizzard phenomenon in the form of 3 hours and in codes of this phenomenon (36, 37, 38 and 39), were obtained from the establishment of the stations studied by 2016. In the following, for precise examination, stations with 30 years of statistic from 1987 to 2016 were identified and the statistical (frequency, daily, monthly and annual frequency) codes 39 and 37 were studied. Finally, the relationship between blizzard with the latitude and elevation in the studied stations was determined. To assess the statistical results, the correlation coefficients (R) and coefficient of determination (R²) were used.
In the second part, the identification of synoptic patterns was done by Principal Component Analysis in MATLAB software and ocular method. The criterion for identifying synoptic patterns, the days where codes 37 and 39 are more than 1 time (3 hours) within 24 hours or two days behind each other at the stations studied. In order to determine the patterns, at first, the average geopotential data of the 500-hpa level from 1987 to 2016 were obtained from a range of 10-70 degrees north latitude and 0-80 degrees east longitude with a spatial resolution of 2.5 * 2.5 from the NCEP / NCAR data.
Statistical analyzes on the relationship between the effect of geographic factors on severe blizzard showed that the factor of height had the greatest effect on the intensity, magnitude and spatial differences of this phenomenon. In sum, the most important factor in the occurrence of this phenomenon is due to atmospheric conditions and synoptic patterns of the region. In this study, the most frequent occurrence of codes 37 and 39 in all stations studied was at Sardasht station and Khalkhal station, respectively. Also, the statistical study of the frequency of the annual and monthly occurrence of each code showed that code 39 in 1990 and code 37 in the years 1989 and 1990, as well as in January, had the highest frequency of each of the two codes.
Investigating the patterns of the occurrence of the blizzard phenomenon showed that five main patterns have contributed to its creation in the region, the first pattern due to the formation of a low cut-off center, which, with the cold weather in Central and Eastern Europe, has reduced the temperature in the northwest. The second pattern is due to the high landing passage from Iran, which has crossed the descent from a cold and cold weather zone from Europe to Iran. The third pattern is the location of the studied area in the relatively moderate, dragged, eastern Mediterranean wavelength, causing cold weather to fall to the northwest. The fourth pattern, with the formation of a Rex-type blockade on the Mediterranean, has led to the transfer of cold air from Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan, and high latitudes to Iran. The fifth pattern, with the formation of a blockade, has caused cold weather in northern Europe and Central Asia to enter the country from the north, causing a drop in temperature in the region.
Among the known patterns, the patterns that were blocked (pattern 4 and 5) played the most important role in the survival and transfer of cold fluxes and even drawn to lower latitudes. Other patterns, despite frequent periods, provide conditions for the occurrence of this phenomenon and, unlike the blocking patterns, have had severity and weakness.
 
Keywords: Blizzard; North West; Wind speed; Temperatures below zero; Synoptic patterns
 
 
 

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Vulnerability assessment of Miangaran wetland ecosystem

To support the proper management of ecosystems, vulnerability analysis of ecosystems is very important. Vulnerability analysis of ecosystems provides information about weaknesses and capacity of the studied ecosystem for recovery after damage. Considering the degradation status of Miangaran wetland, vulnerability evaluation of this wetland is one of the most important management methods in the region. For this purpose, in this study, after identifying and evaluating the threatening factors of Miangaran wetland, these factors were scored using evaluation matrices. Then, the interaction between these values ​​and threatening factors was examined and the vulnerability of wetland values ​​was obtained by multiplying the scores of all studied factors. Finally, management solutions were presented to deal with the most important threatening factors. According to the results, the most vulnerability is to the hydrological and ecological values ​​of the wetland. The highest effects of threats on the ecological value are also on the birds of Miangaran wetland. The results of the evaluation of Miangaran Wetland show that this wetland has a high potential for ecosystem functions of the wetland. These functions have been neglected in the planning and managing of wetlands at the local, regional and national levels. As a result, ecosystem-based management is suggested as the best management approach. The management in these areas should take action to prevent the vulnerability of Miangaran wetland. Also, the vulnerability evaluation method used in this study can provide a good understanding of the relationship between wetland functions and the resulting services for the management of the ecosystem of Miangaran Wetland.
Key words: Miangaran wetland, ecosystem management, vulnerability assessment
 

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Explaining the spatial patterns of drought intensities in Iran

Abstract
Recognition of spatial patterns of drought plays an important role in monitoring, predicting, confronting, reducing vulnerability, and increasing adaptation to this hazard. This study aims to identify the spatial distribution and analyze the spatial patterns of annual, seasonal, and monthly drought intensities in Iran. For this purpose, the European center Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) data for the period 1979-2021 and the ZSI index were used to extract the drought intensities. To achieve the research goal and explain the spatial pattern of the frequency of drought intensities (Extreme, severe, moderate, and weak), spatial statistical methods such as global Moran’s I, Anselin local Moran’s Index, and hot spots were used. The results of the global Moran’s I showed that with increasing intensity, the spatial distribution of drought events has become clustered. The spatial distribution of the local Moran’s Index and hot spots also confirms this. Very clear contrast was observed in the local clusters of high (low) occurrence as well as hot (cold) spots of severe (Extreme) yearly droughts in the south, southeast, and east. In autumn, weak to Extreme droughts show a southeast-northwest pattern. But in spring and winter, the spatial pattern of drought is very strong as opposed to severe and moderate drought. Despite the relatively high variability of maximum positive spatial Autocorrelation of severe and Extreme monthly droughts, their spatial pattern is almost similar. The spatial clusters of severe and very severe droughts in the northwest, northeast, and especially on the Caspian coast, are a serious warning for the management of water resources, especially for precipitation-based activities, such as agriculture.
Introduction
Drought or lack of precipitation over some time is the most widespread natural hazard on the earth compared to its long-term average. This risk negatively affects various sectors such as hydropower generation, health, industry, tourism, agriculture, livestock, environment, and economy. To reduce these negative or destructive effects, it must be determined how often drought occurs during the period and in which areas it is most severe. Doing so requires determining the characteristics of the drought. These characteristics include area, intensity, duration, and frequency of drought. Discovering the geographical focus, recognizing the pattern governing the frequency of occurrence and temporal-spatial distribution as well as changes in the dynamics of this hazard facilitate an important role in drought monitoring, early warning, forecasting, and dealing with these potential hazards; this information can be used to create a drought plan by providing analysts and decision-makers with ideas about drought, helping to reduce the negative and vulnerable effects and ultimately make it easier to protect or replace for greater adaptation. Many researchers have been led by these approaches to the use of statistical analysis. Numerous studies have been conducted in the study of climatic phenomena such as drought with space statistics techniques in various regions, including China, India, South Korea, and even Iran. Part of the domestic research on spatial patterns of drought is without the use of spatial statistics and a limited number of others who have used these analyzes have only studied the overall intensity of drought and have not studied the spatial patterns of different drought intensities. The main purpose of this study is to identify the distribution and spatial patterns of drought intensities in Iran using spatial analysis functions of spatial statistics based on the frequency of drought intensities (Extreme, severe, moderate, and weak) with yearly, seasonal and monthly multi-scale approach. Therefore, this study will answer the questions: a) What is the spatial distribution of drought intensity data in Iran? And b) What is the variability of spatial patterns of Iranian droughts at different time scales?
Material &Method
ERA5 monthly precipitation data for a period of 43 years from 1979 to 2021 were used for this study. an array of dimensions of 78×59×504 of data were formed in MATLAB software in which 78×59 is the number of nodes with a spatial resolution of 0.25 degrees and 504 represents the month. After creating the database, the ZSI index was used to calculate the severity of drought in annual, seasonal, and monthly comparisons. Finally, to achieve the research goal and explain the spatial pattern governing the frequency of drought intensities (Extreme, severe, moderate, and weak), spatial statistical methods such as global Moran’s I, Anselin local Moran I and hot spots was used.
Discussion of Results
Due to its ecological conditions, geographical location, and location in an arid and semi-arid region of the world, Iran is among the most vulnerable countries due to natural hazards, including drought. It has experienced many severe droughts in the last century. The occurrence of drought and its effects is one of the major challenges of water resources management in this century. The results of the Global Moran’s Index for all three annual, seasonal, and monthly scales showed a highly clustered pattern of drought events in the country. Spatial clustering of the occurrence of severe and Extreme yearly droughts in the eastern, southeastern, and southern regions is also an interesting result. These conditions are due to low precipitation and high spatial variation coefficient in these areas. This contrast of spatial clusters of drought intensities indicates the relationship between drought and temporal-spatial anomalies of precipitation so that with increasing precipitation, spatial variability of precipitation decreases, and consequently spatial homogeneity of precipitation increases. severe and moderate-intensity spots in the south-southeast in autumn and spring can be affected by fluctuations in the beginning and end of the monsoon season in South Asia due to the high variability of atmospheric circulation at the beginning and end of precipitation in these areas. Some studies have also shown the relationship between precipitation in these areas and the monsoon behavior of South Asia. Extreme drought events in winter and spring have had a positive spatial correlation pattern in the southwest, west, and northwest. However, precipitation at this time of year is concentrated in these areas. Warm clusters or concentrations of very severe drought events in the northern strip of the country, especially in the Caspian region, can be due to the high variability of precipitation at the beginning of the annual precipitation season (late summer and early autumn).  Observations of these conditions in the northern strip indicate that an event with a high frequency of severe droughts, even in rainy areas, should not be unexpected. Spatial clusters of Extreme, severe, moderate, and weak drought every month using both local Moran and hot spots statistics show the fact that in Iran, the most severe droughts have occurred in the western, northwestern, and coastal areas of the Caspian Sea. However, the absence of severe droughts or spatial clusters has been the occurrence of low drought in the southeast and to some extent in the south. On a yearly scale, the south, southeast, and east have played a significant role in the spatial cluster of severe and extreme droughts. So that these areas of the country have had positive spatial solidarity. However, in these areas, negative spatial correlation prevailed in the autumn for severe drought. This may indicate an anomaly and a tendency to concentrate more precipitation in Iran, as well as many changes in seasonal and local precipitation regimes. According to the research results, a high incidence of severe and extreme drought on all three scales (monthly, seasonal and annual) even in the wettest climate of the country (northern Iran, especially the southern shores of the Caspian Sea) shows that High-intensity droughts can occur in all parts of the country, regardless of the weather conditions.
Keywords: Natural hazards, spatial patterns, Moran statistics, spatial autocorrelation, hot spots


 

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Climate is one of the determining factors in the quantity and quality of agricultural products, therefore, in this study, the relationship between precipitation and temperature (as explanatory variables) with rice yield in 40 cities and wheat yield in 30 cities (as dependent variables) was investigated in the Caspian coastal area during 2000-2017. Spatial statistical analyses were performed with using the Moran autocorrelation test and geographically weighted regression. Based on the results (Moran index, z = 0.4342121 for rice and z = 0.719571 for wheat, respectively), it was revealed that the spatial distribution pattern of rice and wheat yield had a cluster pattern. The results of the geographic weighted regression analysis showed that the temperature increase was more desirable than the precipitation increase so the increasing temperature could lead to yield increases. In the eastern parts of the study area, the positive effect of precipitation on rice yield (with 0.020 to 0.540 regression coefficients) was remarkable; the results also revealed a negative relationship between temperature and rice yield in the southeast and eastern parts and a positive effect on rice yield in other areas. Also, the effect of precipitation on wheat yield was negative in the west and central parts of the study area (with -0.481 to -0.871 regression coefficients). According to the results, a negative relationship was dominant between temperature and wheat yield in the east and southeastern parts of the study area and a positive relationship was detected in other areas. Finally, the results indicated that in the western and central parts, due to heavy rainfall and a low number of sunny hours, an increase in temperature is more favourable than an increase in rainfall. In the eastern and southeastern regions of the region, where the amount of precipitation is lower than the threshold required for rice and wheat, an increase in precipitation is more desirable.