Space-time variability of summer temperature field over Bangladesh during 1948-2007

Abstract

Climatic variability analysis is an emerging scientific issue for South-Asian regions, where recent climate change has imposed substantial challenges. In this paper, we analyzed the spatiotemporal variability of the yearly maximum temperature (TXx), which characterizes the summer in Bangladesh, sampled at 34 meteorological stations during 1948-2007. We identified monotonic and robust temporal trends of TXx by each station and examined the spatial pattern of TXx from interpolated surfaces in each year. We quantified the variability of TXx over space and time and indentified temporal trends in the regional mean and interpolated TXx. In contrast to the existing studies, our results depicted an overall decreasing trend in the regional TXx. A regional shift of the summer was observed due to the decreasing and increasing TXx in the warmer northern and the cooler southern regions, respectively. We discussed the relevance of our findings to the future climate change impacts on this region. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.