Affiliation:
1. Department of Geography, FLSH Sais, University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah, Fez 30050, Morocco
2. Department of Civil Engineering, The City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA
3. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New York Graduate Center, New York, NY 10016, USA
4. Department of Geography, Laboratoire Territoire Patrimoine et Histoire, FLSH Dhar El-Mehraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez 30050, Morocco
Abstract
This study examines the spatiotemporal variability of mean monthly temperature in the Moulouya watershed of northeastern Morocco, highlighting associated trends. To this end, statistical methods widely recommended by climate researchers were adopted. We used monthly mean temperature data for the period 1980–2020 from 9 measuring stations belonging to the Moulouya Watershed Agency (ABHM). These stations were rigorously selected, taking into account their reliability, the length of their records, and their geographical position in the basin. In addition, a quality test and homogenization of the temperature series were carried out using the Climatol tool. The results obtained show a significant upward trend in mean monthly temperature, mainly pronounced during the summer months, in the Moulouya watershed. In fact, Z values generally exceeded the 0.05 significance level at all stations during April, May, June, July, August, and October. According to the results of Sen’s slope test, mean monthly temperatures show an annual increase ranging from 0 to 0.13°C. The maximum magnitude of warming is recorded in July, specifically at Oujda Station. On an overall watershed scale, May, August, and July show a rapid warming trend, with average rates of 0.093, 0.086, and 0.08°C per year, respectively. By contrast, the series for the other months show no significant trend. Significant trend change points were also identified at watershed and station scales, mainly around 2000, primarily for accelerated warming of the summer months.