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Spatio-temporal patterns of precipitation in Serbia

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Abstract

The monthly precipitation data from 29 synoptic stations for the period 1946–2012 were analyzed using a number of different multivariate statistical analysis methods to investigate the spatial variability and temporal patterns of precipitation across Serbia. R-mode principal component analysis was used to study the spatial variability of the precipitation. Three distinct sub-regions were identified by applying the agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis to the two component scores: C1 includes the north and the northeast part of Serbia, while C2 includes the western part of Central Serbia and southwestern part of Serbia and C3 includes central, east, south and southeast part of Serbia. The analysis of the identified sub-regions indicated that the monthly and seasonal precipitation in sub-region C2 had the values above average, while C1 and C3 had the precipitation values under average. The analysis of the linear trend of the mean annual precipitation showed an increasing trend for the stations located in Serbia and three sub-regions. From the result of this analysis, one can plan land use, water resources and agricultural production in the region.

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Acknowledgment

The study is supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia (Grant No. TR37003). We thank two anonymous referees for valuable comments and constructive suggestions that helped improve the final version of the article.

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  1. Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Nis, A. Medvedeva 14, 18 000, Nis, Serbia

    Milan Gocic & Slavisa Trajkovic

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  1. Milan Gocic
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  2. Slavisa Trajkovic
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Correspondence to Milan Gocic.

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Gocic, M., Trajkovic, S. Spatio-temporal patterns of precipitation in Serbia. Theor Appl Climatol 117, 419–431 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-013-1017-7

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