Producing climate boundary maps using GIS interface model designed with Python

Abstract

Climate and its effects need to be examined within a more planned and comprehensive framework to prevent the unfavorable impact of climate change. Thus, climate effects on the ecosystem can be identified by determining the geographical boundaries of different climate types. The Köppen, Trewartha, Thornthwaite, Erinc, Aydeniz, De Martonne, and De Martonne–Gottman methods are used in the classification of climates. These methods enable the regional differences of climate types to be determined and their changes over the years to be examined. A number of studies examining climate classes have produced graphic findings and maps. The absence of new approaches has resulted in climate classifications still being carried out via manual studies. However, a program for identifying and representing these methods in a convenient, fast, and automated way could facilitate the completion of analyses in a shorter time. The programming languages developed in recent years have made it easy to design interface models that can perform analyses faster and easier than prolonged manual methods. In this study, a climate boundary determination interface model, designed using the Python programming language, was developed for use in the ArcGIS 10.6 program to determine geographical climate boundaries automatically. The provinces of Artvin, Ordu, Rize, Trabzon, Giresun, Bayburt, and Samsun (Turkey) were chosen as the study area to test the interface model. The resulting interface model design is expected to: (1) address the dimensions of climate change in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change studies; (2) identify the climate changes in our country as an objective of the National Climate Change Strategy; and (3) determine the land-use changes caused by climate boundaries and examine the ownership dimension of the adaptation process in the declaration published by the International Geodesy Federation in 2014.