THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AIR AND SOIL TEMPERATURE AS A LOCAL INDICATOR OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN A SMALL AGRICULTURAL CATCHMENT

Abstract

Aim of the study The aim of the study was to identify the trends in changes in air and soil temperature and their relationship, as well as to investigate if short data set can be an indicator of local climate change. Material and methods The study was based on the data of air and soil temperature collected between 2009 and 2015 at Czarna gauging station. It includes calculation of the average daily, monthly, semi-annual and annual air and soil temperature at particular depths of the soil profile. Monthly average values were used to determine the relationship between air and soil temperature. Based on the maximum air temperature, the number of frost, cold, cool, warm, hot and very hot days was calculated, according to the methodology provided by the Polish Climate Atlas. The basic statistical measures, trends in temperature change and linear regression were determined, as well as the statistical significance of equation coefficients using the Student’s t-test. Results and conclusions The study shows a statistically significant increasing trend in average air temperature in summer. The annual average and winter average air temperature demonstrate an statistically insignificant increasing trend. The number of frost days shows a decreasing trend, contrary to the number of cold and very hot days. The average soil temperature appears to be increasing for the surface layer. The monthly distribution of average soil temperature corresponds with the monthly distribution of average air temperature. There is a strong relationship between air temperature and soil temperature.