Abstract

LOZADA GARCIA, Beatriz Ibet  and  SENTELHES, ulo César. Estimation models for climatic average of daily minimum, maximum, and medium air temperatures for the andes region in venezuela . Agronomía Trop. [online]. 2008, vol.58, n.2, pp.141-153. ISSN 0002-192X.

Nowadays, the availability of daily data of air temperature is essential for a wide range of studies in agrometeorology, like evapotranspiration, water balance, crop zoning, animal comfort, and mainly for diseases and crop yield forecasts. Due to the low density of weather stations in Táchira, Trujillo, and Mérida states, in the Andes region of Vene­zuela, air temperature data are not available in the spatial distribution required for the studies cited above. With the purpose of having a reliable daily air temperature database for the Andes region, the aim of this study was to generate models for estimating climatic average of daily minimum, maximum, and medium air temperature, using multiple linear regression, considering as input the geographical coordinates (longitude and latitude) and altitude. The data used in this study come from the weather stations network of the Ministry of Environment of Venezuela, from which were chosen 22 units spread over the three states. The obtained models showed on average coefficients of determination higher than 0.90, when tested with independent data, and estimated values free of significant errors: d index between 0.98 and 1.00, and an average RMSE smaller than 2 °C.

Keywords : Multiple linear regression; coordinates; altitude.