Spatial Modeling of Climatic Parameter Fluctuation

Understanding the spatial and temporary variations in climate within a zone, and their relationships with other factors, is important in activities related to climate change and the management of the natural resources, such as environmental planning, land-use planning, watershed management and territorial ordering. Even when these variations are sometimes reported in maps, the values represented there are presently often obtained by the straight application of subjective criteria, seldom supported or replaced by the systematic use of computerized techniques of spatial data analysis and modeling. In this study, a method is presented for mapping and analyzing the temporary variations of climatic parameters linked to the global climate change. This method focuses on the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and is tested in producing temperature variation maps of the Bermejo Basin, in northwest Argentina, between 22 and 27oS, and 58 and 66oW. To produce these maps, temperature and rainfall data of meteorological stations were first summarized for different periods from 1873 to 2000 to build up a tabular database, and a digital elevation model was produced from topographic data using GIS capabilities. Tabular an