Open AccessAgroclimatic zonation of Tigray region of Ethiopia based on aridity index and traditional agro-climatic zones
Author(s) -
H. Haftom,
Abera Haftu,
K. GOITOM,
H. Meseret
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of agrometeorology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.295
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 2583-2980
pISSN - 0972-1665
DOI - 10.54386/jam.v21i2.229
Subject(s) - aridity index , arid , evapotranspiration , precipitation , physical geography , environmental science , advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer , semi arid climate , digital elevation model , geography , hydrology (agriculture) , forestry , climatology , geology , remote sensing , meteorology , ecology , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , biology
The aim of this study was to identify the agroclimatic zones of Tigray region based on aridity index and traditional agroclimatic zone using 37-year (1981-2017) spatial climate data downloaded for Tigray region from Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) for rainfall and from Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) data for temperature. Arc map 10.3 was used for mapping of all climatic variables and zonation of agro-climatic zones. Potential evapotranspiration (PET) was computed based on Hargreaves formula and the aridity index was computed. Besides, the digital elevation model was downloaded from ASTER data. The aridity map of Tigray divided into three index zones (0.03-0.2, 0.2–0.5 and 0.5–0.65) and five traditional agro-climate zones ( 3000 m.a.s.l.) were overlaid, which divided entire region of Tigray into fifteen agroclimatic zones. Hot semi-arid, warm semi-arid, tepid semi-arid and hot arid were the dominant zones in the region.