Analysis of 40 year records of solar radiation data in Shanghai,Nanjing and Hangzhou in Eastern China

Summary In this paper, we analyze global, direct and diffuse solar radiation data on a horizontal surface observed at stations in Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou for the period of 1961 to 2000. The data include monthly averages of the daily clearness index (G/G₀: the ratio of global to extraterrestrial solar radiation) and the diffuse fraction (D/G: the ratio of diffuse to global solar radiation. The present study has processed and analyzed the data, including variables or statistics of mean, and annual monthly and daily total, the diurnal variation and the frequency of daily totals of global solar radiation. A correlation between daily values of clearness index and diffuse fraction is obtained and recommended correlation equations were calculated. The annual variations and trend of yearly series are analyzed for daily global, direct and diffuse radiation on a horizontal surface, as well as for daily clearness index and diffuse fraction in Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou. The results show: 1) the east China is characterized by a decrease in global and direct radiation and a little increase in diffuse radiation and a negative linear relationship was obtained between clearness index and diffuse fraction. 2) The annual variations of global, direct and diffuse radiation for Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou are similar with relative low values of global and direct radiation in June due to the Meiyu period. 3) The acceleration of air pollution and decrease of relative sunshine are the possible causes for the decrease of global and direct radiation.     

Relationships between photosynthetically active radiation and clearness index at Bloemfontein, South Africa

Summary Relationships between photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and solar radiation (SR) and between diffuse radiation and global radiation at Bloemfontein, South Africa were investigated. The ratio of PAR to SR (PAR/SR) has been reported from many places in the northern hemisphere, but there were not many PAR/SR measurements documented from the southern hemisphere, including the study region. Based on the present observations, mean PAR/SR in the region (0.48) was not exceptionally different from other reported data (0.45–0.50). The effects of sky condition on PAR/SR were also investigated and confirmed the previous findings. PAR/SR increased as the clearness index (K_T=ratio of global to extraterrestrial SR) decreased, as sky conditions varied from clear to cloudy. Thus, PAR/SR can be a simple function of the clearness index (the global PAR model). In this study, PAR/SR was explained by a quadratic function of K_T. For the relationship between diffuse and global radiation, a simple linear threshold diffuse PAR model, as a linear function of K_T, was proposed for the study region using long-term data of diffuse and global SR. Using the previous findings on the relationship between the ratio of diffuse to global SR (K_SR) and the ratio of diffuse to global PAR (K_PAR), at high K_T, K_PAR can be estimated as 30% higher than K_SR, while at low K_TK_PAR is equivalent to K_SR.     

Analysis of sky condition using solar radiation data at Kwangju and Seoul, South Korea and Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Summary ?Daily global and diffuse radiation measurements have been used to characterize the atmosphere optical conditions at Kwangju (Lat.35.13N, Long.126.53E) and Seoul (Lat.37.57N, Long.126.98E) in South Korea and Ile-Ife (Lat.7.14N, Long.4.56E) in Nigeria. The clearness index, (CI) which gives the percentage depletion by the sky of the incoming global radiation and the diffuse ratio, (D_R) which represents the effectiveness of the sky in scattering incoming radiation have been analyzed in this study. Results show an average clearness index value of 0.57 for the year 1999 with maximum values occurring during the wet seasons at Ile-Ife. The average clearness indexes for Kwangju and Seoul from 1998–2000 was 0.48 and 0.34, respectively, with both stations having maximum clearness indexes in the winter seasons. The diffuse ratio was higher at Kwangju and Seoul than at Ile-Ife due to heavy dust pollution from the Gobi desert in the Korea peninsula in spring, and high biomass burning at Kwangju in the fall. Department of Physics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria Received May 7, 2001; Revised November 24, 2001     

香河地区冬季NO2光解速率的变化特征及其估算方法的建立

NO₂的光解速率j(NO₂)是对流层化学研究中的一个重要的参数，它是对流层臭氧（O₃）和OH自由基的形成关键影响因子之一。本文利用香河站2017年11月至2018年1月的观测资料对NO₂的光解速率j(NO₂)、太阳辐射的变化特征，及光解速率与分波段辐射相关性进行分析，在此基础上建立了一套适合于构建香河地区j(NO₂)的参数化方案。结果表明，香河地区的j(NO₂)与太阳辐射的变化趋势基本一致，日变化均呈正午高、早晚低的单峰型。香河地区冬季j(NO₂)的变化范围是0.00046～0.0044 s-1，平均值为0.0029 s-1。j(NO₂)与晴空指数（K_S）和定义的紫外辐射晴空指数（K_UV）存在很好的相关性，因此，利用j(NO₂)与大气质量数和晴空指数的相互依赖关系，基于K_UV构建了适合于香河地区j(NO₂) 的估算方程。由于总辐射是气象站的常规观测要素，晴空指数K_S更容易获取，继而建立了通过K_S参数化计算j(NO₂)的估算方程。利用K_UV和K_S建立的j(NO₂)估算方程的瞬时估算值与观测值的平均相对误差分别为6.5%和13.9%，均方根误差分别为0.00029和0.00051。     

Analysis of solar radiation over Egypt

Summary  The database utilized in this analysis consisted of daily sunshine duration and hourly global and diffuse radiation on a horizontal surface (for Matruh Cairo, and Aswan), and normal incidence beam radiation (for Cairo and Aswan only). Monthly-average hourly and daily values are reported for each of these three types of measured radiation, together with the calculated monthly-average daily values for the components of global radiation, horizontal beam and diffuse radiation. The monthly-average hourly and daily clearsky index values have also been calculated and analyzed. Monthly-average daily frequency distributions of the clearsky index values are reported for each month. The annual-average daily global irradiation values are 19.4, 18.67, and 21.78 MJ/m² and for diffuse irradiation they are 6.34, 6.65 and 6.23 MJ/m² for Matruh, Cairo and Aswan, respectively. For the normal incidence beam irradiation the annual-average daily values are 16.94 and 24.46 MJ/m² for Cairo and Aswan, respectively. The annual-average daily fractions of the direct component of horizontal global radiation are 0.70, 0.61 and 0.72 for the three stations, respectively. The annual-average daily values for the clearsky index are 0.585, 0.566, and 0.648, and the average frequency of clear days annually are 67.3, 42.3 and 77.6% respectively. The annual variations and trend analysis were analyzed for daily global, direct, and diffuse radiation on a horizontal surface, daily sunshine duration, and for the daily ratios G/G₀, and D/G for the stations Matruh, Cairo and Aswan. The distribution of these components of radiation and their ratios over the study stations in Egypt is also discussed. The results show that Egypt is characterized by relatively high average-daily radiation rates, both global and direct, and a relatively high frequency of clear days. Cairo, due to its urbanization and high pollution, has relatively low average-daily radiation rates, particularly in direct radiation, and the frequency of clear days. Received February 26, 1998 Revised February 4, 1999     

The Diffuse Fraction of Global Solar Irradianceat a Tropical Location

Summary The annual and monthly mean diurnal variations of the diffuse fraction of global solar irradiance arriving on the ground at a tropical station in Sub-Sahel Africa is here been reported. The monthly mean hourly values of the diffuse fraction (K _d ) for such clear-sky months as February, March and November at this location, which approach a minimum at about local noon, are observed to lie generally below 0.50 during the period from 11:00 to 15:00 hrs (LST). Consequently, solar concentrators utilising parabolic mirrors are expected to have high performance during these months in this region. Like the mainly-cloudy and wet months (June to August) in which monthly mean hourly values of K _d higher than 0.62 have been recorded, the corresponding diffuse fraction for dust-haze months (mostly December and January) with high turbidity coefficients were generally above 0.50. Monthly mean hourly values of K _d for less cloudy months (April, May, September and October) ranged between 0.48 and 0.77 during the period from 11:00 to 15:00 hrs (LST). The effects of atmospheric dust-haze, clouds and albedo on the monthly mean diurnal variation of the diffuse fraction has been discussed. Also reported are the characteristic values of K _d for sets of months with relatively similar atmospheric and sky conditions at this location. The annual variations of the monthly mean daily values of K _d which exhibit strong seasonal dependence showed a peak in August for both years. Except for the months of February and March, the monthly mean daily totals of K _d exhibited similar annual marches during both years. The major discrepancy in the values of the monthly mean daily totals of K _d in both years were recorded in the months of February, November and December, with the corresponding K _d values for these months in both years agreeing only to within 32.9% in February, 15.4% in November and 16.2% in December. Apart from the aforementioned months, the corresponding monthly mean daily totals of K _d for the remaining nine months in both years agreed mostly to within less than 8.4%. The least monthly mean daily ratios of K _d were obtained in the relatively clear month of November for both years being 0.43 in 1993 and 0.49 in 1994. On an annual average, the diffuse component was found to constitute 59.6% of the global solar irradiance arriving on the ground at this region in 1993 and 60.9% in 1994. The results been reported here have been compared with a few others emanating from other tropical stations. Received February 5, 1998 Revised May 12, 1998     

Characteristics of Surface Solar Radiation under Different Air Pollution Conditions over Nanjing,China: Observation and Simulation

Surface solar radiation (SSR) can affect climate, the hydrological cycle, plant photosynthesis, and solar power. The values of solar radiation at the surface reflect the influence of human activity on radiative climate and environmental effects, so it is a key parameter in the evaluation of climate change and air pollution due to anthropogenic disturbances. This study presents the characteristics of the SSR variation in Nanjing, China, from March 2016 to June 2017, using a combined set of pyranometer and pyrheliometer observations. The SSR seasonal variation and statistical properties are investigated and characterized under different air pollution levels and visibilities. We discuss seasonal variations in visibility, air quality index (AQI), particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), and their correlations with SSR. The scattering of solar radiation by particulate matter varies significantly with particle size. Compared with the particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter between 2.5 μm and 10 μm (PM_2.5?10), we found that the PM_2.5 dominates the variation of scattered radiation due to the differences of single-scattering albedo and phase function. Because of the correlation between PM_2.5 and SSR, it is an effective and direct method to estimate PM_2.5 by the value of SSR, or vice versa to obtain the SSR by the value of PM_2.5. Under clear-sky conditions (clearness index ≥0.5), the visibility is negatively correlated with the diffuse fraction, AQI, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5, and their correlation coefficients are ?0.50, ?0.60, ?0.76, and ?0.92, respectively. The results indicate the linkage between scattered radiation and air quality through the value of visibility.     

Spatiotemporal variations of potential evapotranspiration and aridity index in relation to influencing factors over Southwest China during 1960–2013

This study investigated the spatial–temporal patterns and trends of potential evapotranspiration (ET₀) and aridity index (AI) over Southwest China during 1960–2013 based on daily temperature, precipitation, wind speed, sunshine duration, total solar radiation, and relative humidity data from 108 meteorological stations. The Penman–Monteith model, Mann–Kendall (M–K) test, moving t test, and Morlet wavelet method were used. The results indicated that ET₀ and AI across the region displayed decreasing trends, but the former was significant. After 2000, regionally average trends in ET₀ and AI increased rapidly, indicating that droughts increased over Southwest China in recent years. Spatially, the changes of ET₀ and AI were dissimilar and not clustered, either. Temporally, both ET₀ and AI displayed obvious abrupt change points over different timescales and that of AI was during the winter monsoon period. Significant periodic variations with periods of 27, 13, and 5 years were found in ET₀, but only of 13 and 5 years existed in AI. Correlation analysis revealed that the sunshine duration and wind speed were the dominant factors affecting ET₀ and that AI showed strong negative correlation with precipitation. The findings of this study enhance the understanding of the relationship between climate change and drought in Southwest China, while the mechanism controlling the variation in drought requires further study.     

山东禹城紫外辐射变化特征及其估测方程的建立

本文对2005～2011年山东禹城地区观测得到的紫外辐射的时间变化特征及紫外辐射与总辐射比值的变化特征进行了分析, 并结合气温、降水和露点温度资料建立了禹城地区的紫外辐射估测方程。结果表明:紫外辐射日累计值的变化范围为0.10～1.20 MJ m-2 d-1, 年平均值为0.468 MJ m-2 d-1;紫外辐射日、季节变化规律与总辐射一致, 季节变化都表现为冬季小夏季大, 最小值出现在1月, 最大值出现在6月, 日变化则呈现早晚小中午大的特征;紫外辐射与总辐射的比值范围为0.023～0.046, 其季节变化特征也是冬季小夏季大, 该比值随晴空指数的增大而减小, 而在晴空指数大于0.5时比较稳定。利用温度日较差(日最高气温与最低气温的差值)建立了紫外辐射估测方程, 决定系数R2达0.80, 平均相对误差为0.19, 估测紫外线等级与实测紫外线等级相差不大于1的数据占95%, 该方法可以较好地进行紫外辐射等级的估测。     

三江平原地区光合有效辐射观测研究

利用2005~2011年的太阳辐射观测资料分析三江平原地区光合有效辐射(Qp)的时间变化特征及其与总辐射(Rs)比值(Qp/Rs)的变化规律,结果表明,Qp与Rs具有相同的季节变化特征;Qp日累计值的变化范围为60.47~0.11 mol m-2 d-1,年均值为23.76 mol m-2 d-1。Qp/Rs的变化范围为1.52~2.07 mol MJ-1,年均值为1.91 mol MJ-1。Qp/Rs和Qp季节变化一致,两者都是夏季最大,春秋次之,冬季最小。通过利用2011年的Qp观测数据、大气质量数与晴空指数的相互关系,建立了适合于估量三江地区Qp的经验方程,估算值与观测值的相对误差在5.7%以内。     

Measurements and estimations of photosynthetically active radiation in Beijing

The measurements of the photosynthetic photon flux density (Q_p) and other solar components have been in Beijing for 2-year period. The Q_p, broadband solar radiation (R_s) and the PAR fraction (Q_p / R_s) showed similar seasonal features that peaked in value during the Summer and reached their lowest value during the Winter. The PAR fraction ranged from 1.68 E M J^− 1 (Winter) to 1.98 E M J^− 1 (Summer) with an annual mean value of 1.83 E M J^− 1. The analysis of the hourly values also revealed a diurnal pattern, with higher values of Q_p and R_s being observed around noon. The PAR fraction increased from 1.78 to 1.89 μE J^− 1 (hourly values), as the sky conditions changed from clear to cloudy. The monthly mean hourly PAR fraction also revealed a diurnal variation, however, with lower values being observed around noon during most months. In November, the diurnal variations showed an opposite feature in comparison with other months. This is mainly attributed to the diurnal variations in the water vapor concentration.Two models were developed to estimate Q_p from R_s. The models consisted of atmospheric parameters that were found to cause substantial changes to the PAR fraction, such as sky clearness, brightness and path length. The estimated Q_p obtained via different equations was much closer to the observed values, with relative errors below 20% in Beijing. The Q_p and R_s data collected at three stations with featuring different climate types from within Beijing were used for verifying the transferability of the models. The correlation coefficients between the measured and estimated Q_p values decreased at these stations, and the relative error increased. This indicates that the estimation models need to be modified accordingly for the local climatic conditions.     

A Model to Estimate Global Radiation in Complex Terrain

Global radiation is an important parameter necessary for most ecological models. However, in situ data barely meets the needs of modelling mountainous ecosystems since most field stations are located in flat areas. Consequently, it is usually necessary to extrapolate radiation measurements obtained from an adjacent flat area to the complex terrain of concern. The distribution of radiation in complex terrain depends upon two factors: the local atmospheric conditions, which determine the radiation potentially available to a supposed flat surface in a given location, and the topographic effects on this possible radiation. The latter have been included in detail in most radiation models for complex terrain, but the former are often only simply treated as constant or estimated by over-simplified empirical algorithms. In this paper we propose a novel model that uses a parametric atmospheric model to calculate the potential radiation for a supposed flat surface in a given location, and then account for topographic effects. Direct radiation, diffuse radiation and reflected radiation are calculated separately in the model due to the distinctive characteristics of and the effects by topography. Based on the parametric model, this paper has investigated the relationship between radiation transmittance, clearness indices and altitude under a series of water vapour content and turbidity conditions. This combines three ratios, R _b, R _d, and R _r, defined as the direct radiation, diffuse radiation and reflected radiation received by the arbitrary surface, respectively, to their counterparts in the horizontal surface, to estimate the global radiation for any given location. The model has been validated with data from measurements in National Park Berchtesgaden, Germany, where six measurement sites with various altitudes and topographic characteristics have been deployed. The r ² of modelled and measured hourly global radiation are greater than 0.90 in all six sites, with RMSE varies from 16 to 100 W m⁻². Sensitivity analysis revealed that the model was not sensitive to change in water vapour content, which suggests the possibility to use an exponential algorithm of water vapour content when there is no in situ water vapour content information in complex terrains. The NRMSE was only reduced by 0.04, on average, in five of the six sites when water vapour content information was calculated from the in situ air temperature and relative humidity measurements.     

Seasonal variation and meteorological control of CO2 flux in a hilly plantation in the mountain areas of North China

The carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems is an important scientific issue in global climate change research.Plantation forest plays an important role in terrestrial carbon budget in China.In this study,eddy covariance flux data measured at Xiaolangdi forest ecosystem research station(XLD) in 2007 and 2008 are used to analyze the seasonal variation and meteorological control of CO2 flux in a 30-yr-old mixed plantation.The plantation forest mainly consists of Quercus variabilis,Platycladus orientalis,and Robinia pseudoacacia.The results show that the seasonal variations of net ecosystem exchange of CO2(NEE),gross primary production(GPP),and ecosystem respiration(Re) display single-peak curves.The maximum of carbon sequestration appears during May and June each year.The relative contribution of carbon release from ecosystem respiration to GPP varied slightly between 2007 and 2008.The relationship between NEE and photosynthetic active radiation(Qp) accords with the rectangular hyperbola model on diurnal scale,and shows a good linear correlation on monthly scale.The ecosystem photosynthetic parameters:the maximum photosynthetic rate(Pmax),the ecosystem photosynthetic photonyield(α),and the daytime ecosystem respiration(Rd) exhibit seasonal variations.Pmax reaches the maximum in August each year,with small interannual difference.The interannual differences of α and Rd are obvious,which is attributed to the changes of meteorological factors,such as solar radiation,vapor pressure deficit(D),precipitation,etc.Parameters Re,GPP,and NEP(net ecosystem production) have obvious exponential relations with temperature on monthly scale.There is a hysteresis in the response of GPP and NEP to temperature,i.e.,the carbon sequestration is not the maximum when the temperature reaches the peak value.The Q10 values were 1.37 and 1.45 in 2007 and 2008,respectively.On monthly scale,Re,GPP,and NEE increase as D increases,but rise slowly and even decrease when D is higher than 1.5 kPa.     

Temporal and spatial variations of global solar radiation over the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau during the past 40 years

Global solar radiation is of great significance to the balance of ground surface radiation, the energy exchange between the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, and the development of weather and climate systems in various regions. In this study, the monthly global radiation recorded at 23 stations over the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP) was utilized to estimate global solar radiation (Q) from sunshine duration and to obtain improved fits to the variation coefficients of the monthly Angström–Prescott model (APM). The modeling results were evaluated by calculating the statistical errors, including mean bias error, mean absolute error, root mean square error, and mean relative error. We demonstrate that the monthly Q values can be predicted accurately by APM over the QTP. We also assess the variations of Q values at 116 meteorological stations by APM over the QTP during 1961–2000. The analysis shows that the annual mean sunshine duration amounted to more than 3,000 h over the whole plateau, implying promising prospects for economic applications of solar energy. During the past 40 years, the mean global solar radiation has been relatively high in the western QTP, extending northward to the Inner Mongolian Plateau. Although its decadal variations in the QTP and surrounding regions were inconsistent, the anomaly values of global solar radiation were generally positive during the 1960s and 1970s, indicating that the QTP’s global solar radiation has increased during those periods. The anomaly values were negative during the 1980s and 1990s, showing that the plateau’s global solar radiation has decreased during those periods. Global solar radiation over the QTP is negatively proportional to latitude but positively proportional to altitude and relative sunshine duration. Three factors, the sunshine duration, latitude, and altitude, exert great influence on global surface radiation, of which sunshine duration is most significant. A high-variation-coefficient zone of global solar radiation occurred in the western part of the QTP but, on average, the variation coefficient of the plateau’s global solar radiation was only 0.031, suggesting that the variation in global radiation was relatively stable over the whole QTP.     

Observations and estimations of PAR and solar visible radiation in North China

Integrated observations were made of solar irradiance (including photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), visible radiation (VIS), global radiation (G), etc.), and meteorological parameters at 4 stations in North China between September, 2004 and October, 2006. The ratios of hourly sum of PAR to G (H _PAR/H), VIS to G (H _VIS/H), and PAR to VIS (H _PAR/H _VIS) varied smoothly but exhibited significant diurnal, daily, seasonal variations, and were influenced by several factors, such as water vapor, cloud, haze, etc. The objective of this paper is to develop empirical formulas for estimation of hourly and daily sums of PAR and VIS and their relationship under all sky conditions in North China. The calculated PAR and VIS were in agreement with measured values, the relative biases were 13.0?% and 12.4?% for hourly sums, 9.9?% and 9.0?% for daily values, respectively.     

Estimating sunshine duration from other climatic data by artificial neural network for ET0 estimation in an arid environment

Sunshine duration data are desirable for calculating daily solar radiation (R _s) and subsequent reference evapotranspiration (ET₀) using the Penman–Monteith (PM) method. In the absence of measured R _s data, the Ångström equation has been recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. This equation requires actual sunshine duration that is not commonly observed at many weather stations. This paper examines the potential for the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to estimate sunshine duration based on air temperature and humidity data under arid environment. This is important because these data are commonly available parameters. The impact of the estimated sunshine duration on estimation of R _s and ET₀ was also conducted. The four weather stations selected for this study are located in Sistan and Baluchestan Province (southeast of Iran). The study demonstrated that modelling of sunshine duration through the use of ANN technique made acceptable estimates. Models were compared using the determination coefficient (R ²), the root mean square error (RMSE) and the mean bias error (MBE). Average R ², RMSE and MBE for the comparison between measured and estimated sunshine duration were calculated resulting 0.81, 6.3 % and 0.1 %, respectively. Our analyses also demonstrate that the difference between the measured and estimated sunshine duration has less effect on the estimated R _s and ET₀ by using Ångström and FAO-PM equations, respectively.     

我国太阳总辐射气候学计算方法的再讨论

根据我国建站时间在30a以上的辐射资料以及对应的地面站日照资料，在分析太阳总辐射统计特征的基础上，讨论了总辐射气候学计算公式中a、b系数的地理分布和季节变化特征，分析了辐射气候学计算的可能误差，得到了用日照资料估算总辐射的误差范围。结果表明，太阳总辐射月总量接近正态分布特征；总辐射气候学计算公式中的a、b系数具有较明显的时空变化特征，需按不同月份确立；通过逐年观测资料计算各基本站a、b系数，再由内插求得无辐射资料测站的a、b系数，进而计算无辐射资料站的辐射总量，其误差在可接受的范围内。     

1961-2009年东北地区日照时数变化特征

根据1961-2009年东北地区104个气象站的日照时数、气温、降水、风速和相对湿度资料,利用趋势分析、Mann-Kendall分析和相关分析等方法,研究东北地区日照时数月、季、年的时空变化特征,同时还对可能影响日照时数的气候因子进行分析。结果表明：东北地区5月日照时数最高,12月日照时数最低。年日照时数呈显著减少趋势,平均每10 a减少40.5 h;除秋季日照时数变化不显著外,其他季节日照时数均显著减少。在20世纪80年代初期存在明显的突变,日照时数开始减少。东北地区日照时数大致呈西高东低的经向分布;除黑龙江北部地区外,其余大部地区日照时数均呈减少的趋势,其中吉林北部地区减少最为明显。东北地区日照时数与气温呈负相关关系,相关系数为-0.40;与降水呈负相关关系,相关系数为-0.37;与风速呈正相关关系,相关系数为0.53;与相对湿度呈负相关关系,相关系数为-0.32。前三者均通过了99.9 %的信度检验,相对湿度通过了99.5 %的信度检验。     

Spatial and temporal patterns of trends and variability in diurnal temperature ranges of Turkey

Summary Spatial and temporal patterns of trends in the diurnal temperature ranges (DTRs) of the 70 stations and the role of maximum and minimum temperatures on the year-to-year variability and the long-term trends of the DTRs in Turkey have been investigated for the period 1929–1999. The principal results of the study are as follows:(i) The daytime maximum temperatures have shown weak warming and cooling in comparison with significant warming of the night-time minimum temperatures in many regions of Turkey and in most seasons. (ii) The DTRs have significantly decreased at most of the urbanised and rapidly urbanising stations throughout the seasons except partly in winter, without showing an apparent north/south (west–east) and land/sea gradient. (iii) Annual and seasonal DTRs of some stations have shown significant increasing trends. Nevertheless, the spatial distribution of significant increasing trends in the DTR series is geographically incoherent across the country in all seasons and annually, as compared with significantly decreased DTRs. (iv) Autumn and summer DTRs have decreased generally at a higher rate than in winter and spring. (v) Changes in the temperature regime of Turkey towards the more temperate and/or warmer climate conditions are most strongly related with the significant night-time warming in spring and summer. (vi) Magnitudes and signs of correlation coefficients and correlation patterns between the DTRs and the maximum and minimum temperatures have revealed that there is an opposite physical control mechanism on the year-to-year variability and the long-term variations and trends in the DTRs, particularly for the annual, spring and summer series. (vii) Significant increases of the night-time temperatures have most likely led to strong decreasing trends in the DTRs of most stations during the spring and summer seasons and annually and of some stations during winter and autumn. (viii) The asymmetric trends and the symmetric, but with different magnitude, trends in the maximum and minimum temperatures resulted in a significant decrease in the DTRs of many stations and are a considerable signal of ongoing changes in the climatic variability of Turkey.