Statistical analysis of regional climate trends in Saxony, Germany

Abstract

This study focuses on changes in irradiance, temperature, precipitation, evaporation, snow cover, and water balance in Saxony (eastern Germany) over the past 50 yr. It had 2 main objectives: (1) collection of all available climatological data with daily resolution, (2) statistical analysis of the climate. Time series of more than 600 meteorological stations from Saxony and the surrounding regions have been organized in the Saxon climate databank. This databank contains tools for homogeneity tests and trend analysis of climatologic time series. This makes it possible to calculate derived and complex quantities from single climate elements. About half of the time series tested were sufficiently homogeneous for a regional climate analysis of Saxony. The most important results of the trend analysis are: (1) marked decrease in summer rainfall (-10 to -30 %); (2) significant increase in winter precipitation; (3) increase in heavy rainfall events during early summer; (4) increase in the length and frequency of dry periods in both vegetation periods; (5) increase in temperature in all seasons, and especially in winter (>2°C in northern Saxony); (6) increase in irradiance and potential evaporation by about 7% in the last 30 years. © Inter-Research 2004.