Hydroclimatic variability in northeast Turkey: identifying climate and river flow dynamics and controls

• Main Author: Saris, Faize
• Other Authors: Hannah, David M., Eastwood, Warren, na
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: G Geography (General); GB Physical geography; May Peak; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3074/1.hassmallThumbnailVersion/Saris11PhD.pdf; http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3074/; http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3074/1/Saris11PhD.pdf

The East Black Sea (EBS) and the Çoruh River basins (ÇRB) of northeast Turkey have a number of challenging water related issues of socio-economic and ecological importance. This PhD thesis aims to understand hydroclimatological variability across Turkey taking a large-scale perspective by defining precipitation regimes and extremes and then focussing on the climatic and basin drivers of river flow variability in northeast Turkey. At the national-scale, Turkey exhibits six precipitation regime regions of which three characterise northeast region. The northeast and southwest coastal regions of Turkey are characterised by the highest frequency of extreme precipitation events. The mountainous area of the EBS is defined by May-June Peak river flow regime, while ÇRB is characterised by April-May Peak flow regime. Intra-annual variability in the timing of river flow over northeast Turkey is controlled mainly by the regional climatic variability. Spring rainfall peak is linked to snowmelt. Important changes are detected in temperature extremes, also in precipitation and river flow for some cases. Regional precipitation and temperatures for September-May period have an important influence on river flow extremes. Temperature variability across northeast Turkey is closely linked to seasonal indices of East-North Atlantic teleconnection patterns, especially during winter.