Urban effects on precipitation in Ankara

Abstract

In this study, trends of the precipitation day classes in the warm period (May-September) were investigated for Ankara. Data collected by Ankara Meteorology Station (AMS) which has urban characters, and Esenboga Meteorology Station (EMS) which has rural characters, were statistically analyzed to understand the trends of the precipitation day classes. At both, the urban and rural stations, an increase was observed in the number of precipitation days and light precipitation days within years. However, the number of heavy precipitation days increased at the station with urban character (AMS), while it decreased at the station with rural character (EMS). A 50% increase was observed in the number of heavy precipitation days at the urban station (AMS) in comparison with that of the rural station (EMS). The increasing trend in the precipitation and light precipitation days at both stations may be related to the changes in climate. However, the increase in the number of heavy precipitation days only at the station with urban character (AMS) may be due to urbanization.