Influence of edaphic conditions on seasonal and annual temperature trends in the North Carolina Piedmont Region: 1988-2017

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
James Roderick Blount (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Paul Knapp

Abstract: This project used climate and soil data to determine if significant relationships between soil type and air temperature trends in the North Carolina Piedmont area occurred during 1988 to 2017. In pursuit of that, this project examined the average maximum and minimum monthly temperatures of 26 weather stations and their annuals with near-complete records located across the Piedmont region. Temperature data from each station were grouped by season, (winter: December, January, February; spring: March, April, May; summer: June, July, August; fall: September, October, November) and annually. Trends for maximum and minimum temperatures during 1988–2017 were calculated (n= 260) using regression analyses. For the total analyses 110 (42%) observations were significant, of which, 74 (67%) were associated with minimum temperature trends, while 36 (33%) were associated with maximum temperature trends. Spring and fall seasons contained the largest number of significant observations. Temperature trends were affected by soil separate conditions, as percentage sand found within the soil was associated with larger positive temperature trends. Sandier soils had a 65% chance of having a station that was significant versus nonsandy soils that only had a 35% chance. Finally, a difference-of- means test between significant slopes and non- significant slopes soils showed that percentage sand content was significant higher for those stations with significant temperature trends. These results suggest that soil texture content affects temperature trends and that sandier soils will experience 2 increasing temperature trends at higher rates than non-sandy soils within the same geographical area

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2019
Keywords
Maximum, Minimum, North Carolina, Piedmont, Soil Type, Temperature
Subjects
Atmospheric temperature $z North Carolina
Soils $z North Carolina

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