Statistical Modelling of Palestinian Meteorological Data Using Panel Data Techniques

Abstract

Panel data analysis has gained much interest in different fields. This article considers modellingmetrological data in Palestine using panel data models to predict the total rainfall based ontemperature, pressure, relative humidity, and wind speed at five different governorates in the WestBank, Palestine. Different unit root tests have confirmed the stationarity of data. Based onHausman's test, the fixed effect model was chosen as the best model out of all other panel datamodels. The fitted model shows that temperature and pressure have significant negative effects,while relative humidity and wind speed have positive effects on rainfall. Furthermore, with respectto the governorate of Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron have a positive effect on the total monthlyrainfall, while Jenin and Jericho have a negative effect.