Maximum, minimum, and daily air temperature range in orchards: What do observations reveal?

Abstract

This study was designed to better understand vegetation’s impact on air maximum (Tmax), minimum (Tmin), and daily temperature range (DTR), as well as seasonality and variability. We selected a flat, under synoptic-scale, northern Serbian region with an operational network of automated weather stations (AWS) for the study. Data were collected directly from the eighteen AWSs placed in the orchard canopy during 2013–2018. Meteorological data, plant phenological data in the form of the BBCH scale, and orchards’ soil characteristics data were collected. Environmental factors influencing the temperature were classified as static (slow or unchangeable) and dynamic (fast-changing). The impact of both factors on maximum, minimum, and daily temperature range and its variability were analyzed. Results show that static factors (like soil texture) affect the annual variation of Tmax, Tmin, and DTR rather than its variability over the season. The dynamic factors, mainly coming from the plant’s phenology, substantially affected the seasonal variability of these variables. Studies like this suffer from missing data and sparse spatial coverage by the AWS network. Therefore, the alternatives of orchard micrometeorological data, nearest climatological station, and ERA5-Land reanalysis data are tested. Both data sets showcased limitations in their applicability, while reanalysis data deviated more from the in-situ measurements, both seasonally and regionally.