Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-15-2020

Publication Title

Multidisciplinary Scientific Journal

Publisher

MDPI

Volume

3

Issue

1

First page number:

67

Last page number:

78

Abstract

Observations show that the Sun, which is the primary source of energy for the Earth’s climate system, is a variable star. In order to understand the influence of solar variability on the Earth’s climate, knowledge of solar variability and solar–terrestrial interactions is required. Knowledge of the Sun’s cyclic behavior can be used for future prediction purposes on Earth. In this study, the possible connection between sunspot numbers (SSN) as a proxy for the 11-year solar cycle and mean annual precipitation (MAP) in Iran were investigated, with the motivation of contributing to the controversial issue of the relationship between SSN and MAP. Nine locations throughout Iran were selected, representing different climatic conditions in the country. Cross-wavelet transform (XWT) analysis was employed to investigate the temporal relationship between cyclicities in SSN and MAP. Results indicated that a distinct 8–12-year correlation exists between the two time series of SSN and MAP, and peaks in precipitation mostly occur one to three years after the SSN maxima. The findings of this study can be beneficial for policymakers, to consider future potential droughts and wet years based on sunspot activities, so that water resources can be more properly managed.

Keywords

Solar activity; Climate; Precipitation; Cross Wavelet Transform (XWT); Morlet wavelet

Disciplines

Civil and Environmental Engineering

File Format

pdf

File Size

3.776 KB

Language

English

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


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