Monitoring Long-Term Air Temperature Regime in Banat (Romania)

Abstract

Abstract Banat, a region situated in the western and south-western extremity of Romania, benefits from a defense network of meteorological stations in which a meteorological long-term monitoring activity of approximately 150 years is being carried out. Geographical position and diversity of physico-geographical conditions, under the influence of atmospheric circulation factors, determine both the major features of the climate in this region, as well as its local nuances. In order to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of air temperature in Banat, we collected data strings and continuous meteorological observations from 14 weather stations in this area over a 35 years period (1979-2013). In Banat the air temperature regime presents a series of particularities and a patchy distribution as a result of the interaction of dynamic processes with the great diversity of these physicogeographical conditions. Analyzing the meteorological data strings one can observe that the air temperature varies in Banat, both spatially, from one meteorological station to another, and temporally from one year to another, from one semester to another, from one season to another but also from one month to the next due to the frequency and intensity of the advection of the different masses of air. The analysis of the air temperature and the thermal regime in Banat region confirms the moderate climate, with quite strong Oceanic influences from the western part of Europe and the weaker sub-Mediterranean influences, from the southwestern part of the continent. However, as a consequence of the global climate changes we are witnessing, at least in the last 50 years, there has also been a trend in Banat to increase the average annual temperature.