Climate change effects on crop evapotranspiration in the Carpathian Region from 1961 to 2010

In this study, the annual and seasonal crop evapotranspiration at the spatial level of the Carpathian Region were evaluated over 1961–2010. The temperature, precipitation and actual evapotranspiration grid monthly climate data and land cover were analysed and processed on a seasonal basis to compute the annual crop evapotranspiration. The land cover evapotranspiration rate was assigned through evapotranspiration coefficients from the literature. Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques, such as conversions from vector to raster data and the ‘Raster Calculator’ function, were used to assess the spatial distribution of the crop evapotranspiration at a regional scale. In particular, two datasets from different periods (1961–1990 and 1990–2010) were used to compute the seasonal and annual crop evapotranspiration for the Carpathian region. The results of climate parameters indicate a rise in temperature and crop evapotranspiration values between the first and the second period. In addition, significant spatial changes were observed with a shift of maximum values from south to north.