Santos Et Al. (2022) (TAAC)

Theoretical and Applied Climatology
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-021-03903-7
ORIGINAL PAPER
Trends of extreme air temperature and precipitation and their impact

on corn and soybean yields in Nebraska, USA
Carlos A. C. dos Santos1 · Christopher M. U. Neale2 · Mesfin M. Mekonnen3 · Ivo Zution Gonçalves4 ·
Gabriel de Oliveira5 · Osias Ruiz‑Alvarez6 · Babak Safa2 · Clinton M. Rowe7
Received: 12 December 2020 / Accepted: 15 December 2021

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
Numerous studies have recently shown the effects of global warming on worldwide and regional precipitation and temperature
patterns. Despite knowing that the spatial and temporal impact of climate variability on agricultural production on different scales
is substantial, few studies have addressed the effect of climate change on crop yield. This study aimed to provide information on
regional trends by evaluating ETCCDMI extreme indices based on long-term (from 1970 to 2015), multi-station (57 weather
stations), daily air temperature, and precipitation observations across the state of Nebraska located in the Central Great Plains,
USA. We analyzed climate variability’s spatial and temporal impact on agricultural production since agriculture is the most
important economic sector for Nebraska. A predominant increase in mean maximum and minimum temperatures in Nebraska in
the last four decades was observed with a nighttime warming trend. The extreme maximum temperatures and diurnal temperature
range indices are environmental factors that negatively impact the rainfed crop production in Nebraska. As expected, the extreme
precipitation events indices showed significant positive correlations with the rainfed crop yield. Further research is needed to
evaluate the effect of extreme temperatures on plant growth at different phenological stages and its impact on productivity.
1 Introduction decades compared to earlier decades. IPCC (2021) reported

that the hydrological cycle is affected by climate change,
Recent climate changes have significantly affected human leading to frequent flooding, droughts, and other severe
and natural processes (IPCC, 2021). Dahal et al. (2018) events. It also influences air temperature and precipitation
pointed to an increasingly hotter Earth during the last three by altering their normals. Climate change has impacted
1
* Carlos A. C. dos Santos Academic Unity of Atmospheric Sciences, Universidade
[email protected] Federal de Campina Grande, Av. Aprígio Veloso,
Campina Grande 58109‑970 PB, Brazil
Christopher M. U. Neale
2
[email protected] Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, University
of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68501, USA
Mesfin M. Mekonnen
3
[email protected] Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, The
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Ivo Zution Gonçalves
4
[email protected] Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz,
Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP CEP 13418‑900,
Gabriel de Oliveira Brazil
[email protected]
5
Department of Earth Sciences, University of South Alabama,
Osias Ruiz‑Alvarez Mobile, AL 36688, USA
[email protected]
6
Laboratorio Nacional de Modelaje Y Sensores Remotos,
Babak Safa Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales
[email protected] Agrícolas Y Pecuarias, Campo Experimental Pabellón,
Clinton M. Rowe 20673 Pabellón de Arteaga, Mexico
[email protected] 7
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University
of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
13
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C. A. C. dos Santos et al.
all continents and across the oceans on natural and human Plains aquifer (also known as Ogallala aquifer) and extreme
systems (Adisa et al., 2018, IPCC, 2021). Climate change rainfall effects between 1950 and 2010. They observed
has become a significant challenge for humanity (Dai et al., that 45% of annual precipitation contributed 56.8% of the
2016) as it has substantial local and global consequences yearly water table recharge, which is another issue strongly
such as on human health, hydropower, tourism, textile indus- linked to agriculture in the Great Plains, and particularly in
try, food security, and water resources (Tian et al., 2017; Nebraska, which has the largest aquifer area and withdraws
Adisa et al., 2018, IPCC, 2021). most of the water for irrigation (USDA—NASS, 2014).
Spatio-temporal changes in extremes of air temperature Although Nebraska is considered a groundwater-rich state
and precipitation have been studied in different regions and the groundwater levels are relatively stable, the total
(Santos et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2016). Many studies water stored in the High Plains aquifer has declined over
have focused on how different weather parameters’ spatial recent years (Steward and Andrew, 2016).
and temporal distributions change seasonally and annu- Food production has become progressively more crucial
ally and their variations in frequency and intensity (San- with the global population increasing. The worldwide distri-
tos et al., 2011). In the USA, Schoof and Robeson (2016) bution and productivity of crops and livestock are frequently
assessed historical and projected changes in extreme air determined by different climate elements, such as solar radi-
temperature and precipitation values. They noted that many ation, wind speed, air humidity, temperature, and precipita-
areas are already experiencing significant rises in extreme tion (Adisa et al., 2018). Furthermore, climatic variations in
events, with a prevalent decline in cold nights and high air temperature and rainfall and the frequency and severity
spatial variability in daily air temperatures and precipita- of extreme weather events affect crop yields. Consequently,
tion events. According to the United States Global Change climate change and variability’s direct and indirect effects
Research Program (USGCRP), average air temperatures on agricultural production systems are expected to pose
over the continental USA have increased by 1 °C over the potential risks to local, regional, and global food security,
past 50 years (USGCRP, 2018), with climate models pro- depending on the spatial scale. Several studies have linked
jecting that temperatures will continue to rise through at the impact of growing season weather conditions on crop
least 2100 (Kunkel et al., 2013). In addition, the annual yields (Zhu et al., 2019). However, research-wide synthesis
total rainfall in the USA has increased by 5% over the pre- to comprehend the effects of climate change on agriculture
vious 50 years, and the regions with the most significant in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries is complex.
rises are the Northeast and Midwest (USGCRP, 2018). Most studies focus on crops in specific regions and future
On a regional scale, Fu et al. (2010) observed that aver- climate change rather than historical trends (Zhu et al.,
age, minimum, and maximum daily temperatures in Wash- 2019). Nevertheless, recent research indicates that the effect
ington have increased over the last 50 years. They also of climate change on crop production has undeniably begun
showed that annual total rainfall has slightly increased (Hatfield et al., 2011), and the challenges facing agriculture
but with minor statistical significance. Santos et al. (2011) related to climate change are imminent (Hatfield, 2013).
analyzed the trends in extreme temperature and precipi- Tian et al. (2017) argue that temperature and precipitation
tation indices for the state of Utah. They identified that can directly affect grain yield, quality, and economic value.
temperature has risen over the last century, along with an The IPCC also mentioned that temperature, rainfall, and
increase in rainfall but with small statistical significance. temporal patterns are critical factors in agricultural produc-
Rahmani and Harrington Jr. (2019) analyzed five extreme tion. The consequences of climate change can occur at both
precipitation event indicators for the state of Kansas. They regional and global scales (IPCC, 2018). Higher tempera-
noted changes in precipitation with a trend towards intense tures decrease crop development periods and subsequently
and more frequent extremes in the east and a tendency to reduce plant photosynthesis. In contrast, at suitable low-
dry in western Kansas. Finally, Dai et al. (2016), based on temperature levels, the crop gets more days to mature and
the monthly temperature and precipitation dataset from accumulate more non-grain biomass, which improves yields
weather stations in the 12 midwestern states, including (Tian et al., 2017). Studies show that with a constant rise
Nebraska, observed that trends in the diurnal tempera- in extremes and average annual temperature, the potential
ture range (DTR) are decreasing over most months. Given quantity of grains and seeds may be reduced (Högy et al.,
Nebraska’s state’s location in the core of the United States 2013). Increased air temperature also contributes to altera-
Central Great Plains (USCGP), an area of substantial agri- tions in evapotranspiration (ET) (Dahal et al., 2018). It is
cultural importance, there is a need for further studies on expected that changes in ET will intensify the hydrological
projected impacts of climate change on crop yields in this cycle due to a rise in drought intensity and length and the
region (Shulski et al., 2015). possibility of atmospheric storms, resulting in more precipi-
Zhang et al. (2016) investigated the spatial–temporal tation events (Dahal et al., 2018).
dynamics of groundwater recharge of the Northern High
13
Trends of extreme air temperature and precipitation and their impact on corn and soybean yields…
Recent extreme precipitation events have caused sub- conditions (rainfed or irrigated). This analysis is essential for
stantial damage to agricultural production worldwide (Tian Nebraska, where agriculture is one of the most important
et al., 2017). Globally, the variation in precipitation has sectors. Climate change can significantly impact agricultural
increased, with most wet regions getting more rainfall and productivity and management, thus influencing local and
dry areas drying up even more. Therefore, climate change’s national economies.
impact on agriculture is not expected to be the same across
regions due to variations in nature and magnitude of regional
climate and the variability in farmers’ resilience (Dai et al., 2 Material and methods
2016). This results in an enhanced urgency to understand the
effect of extreme meteorological events on crop production, 2.1 Study area and dataset
promoting a more robust monitoring framework for agricul-
tural impact assessment (Hatfield, 2013; Dai et al., 2016). The study area is Nebraska, located in the central USA
As mentioned above, many studies show the effects of Great Plains, presenting a notable east to west precipita-
global warming on worldwide and regional precipitation and tion gradient, where the eastern half of the state is clas-
temperature patterns. However, even knowing that the spatial sified as humid while the west is classified as semi-arid.
and temporal impact of climate variability on agricultural As such, annual precipitation totals range from 787 mm in
production is essential at different scales, few studies have the southeast to 381 mm in the northwest (Frankson et al.,
studied the effect that climate change could have on crop 2017). The state experiences warm to hot summers and cold
yield (Challinor et al. 2014). This study provides regional winters, with seasonal temperatures varying widely, averag-
trends by evaluating extreme indices based on long-term, ing − 5.5 °C in January and 23.6 °C in July (Frankson et al.,
multi-station, daily air temperature, and precipitation obser- 2017). Following the considerations of Sharma and Irmak
vations across Nebraska. We also investigate the correlation (2012a,b), which analyzed distinct agro-climatic conditions
between extreme climate indices and the yield fluctuations across Nebraska, we categorized Nebraska’s 93 counties into
of corn and soybean crops under different field management four distinct zones (zones 1, 2, 3, and 4 from west to east)
Fig. 1 Map of the USA highlighting Nebraska and the weather station locations used in this study
13
(Fig. 1). Nebraska’s topsoil is mainly loam, a mixture of 2004). These indices have been used in many regions world-
clay, silt, and sand. However, the proportions of these com- wide to assess and examine changes in extremes (Vincent
ponents may differ in the state’s distinct areas, which will et al., 2005; Haylock et al., 2006; Alexander et al., 2006;
often dictate whether plants or livestock are predominantly Santos et al., 2011). According to the Nebraska climate’s
produced in those regions. Nebraska’s western and north- characteristics, we selected 20 indices, including 10 tem-
western portions are mainly sand, while the eastern parts perature and 10 precipitation indices (Table 2).
have more clay (Sharma and Irmak, 2012a,b). The primary purpose of the QC method used by RClim-
Agriculture, which is crucial to Nebraska’s economic dex was to identify data processing errors, such as those due
vitality, is affected more directly by climate change. The to manual data entry. First, all available data were assem-
state ranks third in areas planted with corn for grains and the bled, and the candidate station series for extreme analysis
fourth largest in the total value of agricultural marketing. In were selected based on the series length and data complete-
total, 1 in 4 businesses in Nebraska is related to agriculture ness. The completeness criterion used was no more than
(USDA-NASS, 2018). Nebraska is also the second-largest four missing observations per year. Next, any negative dif-
ethanol-producing state in the USA. Approximately 25 oper- ferences between the daily maximum and daily minimum
ating ethanol plants utilize the state’s abundance of corn as temperatures and any negative precipitation were removed
the primary feedstock, producing more than 7.6 billion lit- and replaced by the code − 99.9, used for missing values
ers of biofuel annually (USDA-NASS, 2018). The soybean (Zhang and Yang, 2004; Klein Tank et al., 2009). Next, a QC
region also expanded after the 1960s in Nebraska and is method was applied to detect outliers (unrealistic values) in
currently the state’s second-largest crop, accounting for 30% daily maximum and minimum temperatures and precipita-
of the state’s land (Oliveira et al., 2019). In 2018, Nebraska’s tion amounts. In this study, for temperature series, outliers
total planted region of corn and soybean was 6.1 million ha were defined as the values more than four standard devia-
(USDA-NASS, 2018). Because of the semi-arid climate in tions above or below the mean for each station (Zhang and
the state’s western half, irrigation is required for successful Yang, 2004). Values outside these thresholds were identified
agricultural production. Besides, while not being the first in as possibly erroneous and manually reviewed and fixed on
the USA's cropped area, Nebraska ranks first nationally in a case-by-case basis. Outliers for precipitation resulted pri-
irrigated areas with more than 3.5 million irrigated hectares marily from the accumulation of missing observations over
due to two main factors: low annual precipitation and water several days and unusually long periods of zero precipita-
availability from groundwater (USDA-NASS, 2018). How- tion values. We choose the neighboring stations to compare
ever, it should be noted that agricultural production can still the outliers across stations, as suggested by Klein Tank
be vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate change et al. (2009). Once datasets were quality controlled, their
(Zhu et al., 2019). spatial homogeneity had to be evaluated as climatic time
Daily precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature series often show spurious (non-climatic) jumps, as well as
datasets from 1970 to 2015 for 57 weather stations across gradual changes corresponding to modifications in station
Nebraska (Table 1) from the High Plains Regional Climate location, instrumentation, or observation procedures. The
Center (HPRCC) website (https://hprcc.unl.edu/index.php) station history metadata, when available, was checked for
were obtained. The dataset chosen for extremes analysis resolving these issues.
was based on the series length and data completeness. Also, After obtaining the quality-controlled time series of
county-level yield data for irrigated and rainfed corn and extreme indices for each weather station, we performed a
soybean were acquired for the same period from the United statistical analysis to detect the presence or absence of trends
States Department of Agriculture/National Agricultural Sta- and determine their statistical significance at a 5% prob-
tistics Service (USDA-NASS, 2018). ability level (p ≤ 0.05). The non-parametric Mann–Kendall
(MK) trend test (Mann, 1945; Kendall, 1975) is robust and
2.2 Data quality control and statistical analyses not affected when missing values exist in the time series
was conducted in this study. Additionally, the rate of change
A data quality control (QC) method was implemented to of extreme indicators was achieved with Theil-Sen’s trend
check the data’s quality before processing in RClimdex soft- estimator (Theil, 1950; Sen, 1968), a non-parametric method
ware (Zhang and Yang, 2004). The RClimdex software was for quantifying the trend slope over time series. The com-
developed by the Climate Research Branch of the Meteoro- bination of both tests has been used in evaluating climate
logical Service of Canada. It provided an easy interface for variations and trends in different regions (Dai et al., 2016).
computing a core set of 27 extreme temperature and pre- The correlations between precipitation and temperature
cipitation indices suggested by CCI/CLIVAR (ETCCDMI) extreme indices and crop yields (corn and soybean) for the
(http:/etccdi.pacificclimate.org/software.shtml) and other climatic zones 3 and 4, which are the main rainfed crop pro-
indices with thresholds defined by the user (Zhang and Yang, duction region in Nebraska (Sharma and Irmak, 2012a,b),
13
Table 1 Weather stations Climatic zone ID Location Latitude Longitude Elevation (m)

used to analyze maximum and
minimum daily air temperature Zone 1 1 Agate 42.4244 − 103.7350 1423.4
and daily precipitation in the
2 Bridgeport 41.6681 − 103.1040 1117.4
four climatic zones of Nebraska,
USA 3 Dalton 41.4086 − 102.9660 1303.9
4 Harrisburg 41.6331 − 103.9540 1386.8
5 Hemingford 42.3208 − 103.0730 1301.5
6 Kimball 41.2453 − 103.6340 1435.0
7 Oshkosh 41.4014 − 102.3460 1033.3
8 Scottsbluff Heilig Ap 41.8706 − 103.5930 1202.4
9 Sidney 41.2294 − 103.0210 1316.7
Zone 2 10 Arthur 41.5697 − 101.6910 1066.8
11 Benkelman 40.0503 − 101.5330 912.9
12 Culbertson 40.2333 − 100.8300 790.7
13 Hayes Center 40.5233 − 101.0340 928.1
14 Kingsley Dam 41.2097 − 101.6710 1011.3
15 North Platte Exp Farm 41.0569 − 100.7490 922.0
16 North Platte Rgnl Ap 41.1214 − 100.6690 846.7
17 Trenton Dam 40.1739 − 101.0610 851.3
18 Valentine Miller Fld 42.8783 − 100.5500 789.4
Zone 3 19 Ainsworth 42.5522 − 99.8556 765.0
20 Anselmo 41.5975 − 99.8258 794.0
21 Atkinson 42.5136 − 99.0303 637.0
22 Beaver City 40.1306 − 99.8278 654.7
23 Broken Bow 41.4083 − 99.6750 762.0
24 Butte 42.9131 − 98.8511 552.0
25 Cambridge 40.2847 − 100.1430 682.4
26 Canaday Steam Plt 40.6944 − 99.7008 719.9
27 Gothenburg 40.9394 − 100.1510 793.4
28 Greeley 41.5461 − 98.5331 615.7
29 Holdrege 40.4517 − 99.3803 707.1
30 Kearney 40.7258 − 99.0133 649.2
31 Minden 40.5156 − 98.9514 658.4
32 Newport 42.6008 − 99.3333 679.7
33 Norfolk Karl Stefan Ap 41.9856 − 97.4353 472.7
34 Oakdale 42.0644 − 97.9667 533.1
35 Ravenna 41.0319 − 98.9214 623.6
36 Wakefield 42.2619 − 96.8636 429.2
37 West Point 41.8450 − 96.7142 399.3
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Table 1 (continued) Climatic zone ID Location Latitude Longitude Elevation (m)
Zone 4 38 Ashland 41.0408 − 96.3811 340.8

39 Auburn 40.3703 − 95.7467 283.5
40 Central City 41.1222 − 98.0283 518.2
41 Columbus 41.4639 − 97.3278 442.0
42 David City 41.2492 − 97.1328 490.7
43 Fairbury 40.0739 − 97.1669 411.5
44 Falls City Brenner Fld 40.0803 − 95.5919 298.7
45 Fremont 41.4300 − 96.4669 359.7
46 Genoa 41.4514 − 97.7644 484.6
47 Grand Island Ap 40.9611 − 98.3136 560.8
48 Hastings 40.6472 − 98.3836 590.7
49 Lincoln Muni Ap 40.8508 − 96.7475 362.7
50 Nebraska City 40.6986 − 95.8867 321.6
51 Omaha Eppley Airfield 41.3103 − 95.8992 299.3
52 Osceola 41.1839 − 97.5500 499.9
53 Red Cloud 40.0978 − 98.5197 527.9
54 Seward 40.8997 − 97.0908 440.4
55 Superior 40.0267 − 98.0692 492.9
56 Syracuse 40.6661 − 96.1892 335.3
57 Tecumseh 40.3544 − 96.1939 338.3
were obtained by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) stations, with Dalton showing the highest positive trend
method (Pearson, 1920). The two-tailed test was applied to (0.0517 °C/year), followed by Culbertson (0.0375 °C/year),
verify the significance (p ≤ 0.05). The seasonal spatial dis- Omaha (0.0303 °C/year), and Ainsworth (0.0238 °C/year),
tribution of trends was obtained using the Inverse Distance respectively. Analyzing the 57 weather stations, we observe
Weighting (IDW) interpolation method, which assumes that that 68.4% and 70.1% of all locations showed positive trends
the neighboring values contribute more to the interpolated for TMAXmean and TMINmean, respectively, thus indicat-
values than distant observations (Ruiz-Alvarez et al., 2019). ing a predominant increase in annual mean maximum and
minimum temperatures for all climatic zones in Nebraska.
It is noteworthy that this trend is observed in many areas of
3 Results the globe (Haylock et al., 2006; Vincent and Mekis, 2006;
Vincent et al., 2018).
3.1 Temperature extreme indices trends Figure 3 illustrates the seasonal spatial distribution
of maximum (TXx) and minimum (TXn) values of daily
Figure 2 describes the temporal distribution and linear trends maximum temperature indices for all zones, evidencing a
of annual mean maximum (TMAXmean) and minimum downward trend in all regions. Figure 3f shows an upward
(TMINmean) air temperature for four stations representing trend throughout the state, except Dalton, which showed
Nebraska’s different climatic zones based on geographi- a downward trend. This widespread summer downward
cal location and data quality. Except for Dalton (zone 1), trend for TXn and TXx is likely related to the seasonal
which presented a trend of − 0.028 °C/year, all other stations dynamics of mountain ice melt and ET due to increased
showed statistically significant positive TMAXmean trends. irrigated area, mostly in central and, to a lesser extent,
The highest TMAXmean positive trend (0.0285 °C/year) eastern Nebraska, where the largest decreases in TXx in
is for Culbertson (zone 2), followed by Ainsworth (zone summer are seen, perhaps leading to evaporative cooling.
3) (0.013 °C/year) and Omaha (zone 4) (0.0128 °C/year). In most of Nebraska, in the winter, there is an increase in
The TMINmean trend increased in all four representative TXn and TXx (Fig. 3d and 3h). An opposite is observed in
13
Table 2 Definition of extreme air temperature and precipitation indices used in this study
Indices Name Definition Units
TMAXmean Mean maximum Monthly mean value of daily maximum temperature °C

TMINmean Mean minimum Monthly mean value of daily minimum temperature °C
SU25 Summer days Annual count when daily max temperature > 25 °C Days
ID0 Iced days Annual count when daily max temperature < 0 °C Days
TR20 Tropical nights Annual count when daily min temperature > 20 °C Days
FD0 Frost days Annual count when daily minimum temperature < 0 °C Days
TXx Max Tmax Monthly maximum value of daily max temperature °C
TNx Max Tmin Monthly maximum value of daily min temperature °C
TXn Min Tmax Monthly minimum value of daily max temperature °C
TNn Min Tmin Monthly minimum value of daily min temperature °C
GSL Growing season length Annual (1st Jan to 31st Dec in NH, 1st July to 30th June in SH) count Days
between first span of at least 6 days with TG > 5 °C and first span after July
1 (January 1 in SH) of 6 days with TG < 5 °C
DTR Diurnal temperature range Monthly mean difference between daily max and min temperature °C
RX1day Max 1-day precipitation amount Monthly maximum 1-day precipitation mm
RX5day Max 5-day precipitation amount Monthly maximum consecutive 5-day precipitation mm
SDII Simple daily intensity index The ratio of annual total precipitation to the number of wet days (≥ 1 mm) mm
R10mm Number of heavy precipitation days Annual count when precipitation ≥ 10 mm Days
R25mm Number of heavy precipitation days Annual count when precipitation ≥ 25 mm Days
CDD Consecutive dry days Maximum number of consecutive days when precipitation < 1 mm Days
CWD Consecutive wet days Maximum number of consecutive days when precipitation ≥ 1 mm Days
R95p Very wet days Annual total precipitation from days > 95th percentile mm
R99p Extremely wet days Annual total precipitation from days > 99th percentile mm
PRCPTOT Annual total wet-day precipitation Annual total precipitation from days ≥ 1 mm mm
Dalton, where the trend decreases, possibly due to its geo- temperature higher than 20 °C, including the non-signif-
graphical position at ~ 1300 m altitude and upslope flow. icant ones, has increased in about 65% of the studied sta-
Generally, the cold air stream subsides from mountains tions, suggesting a nighttime warming trend in Nebraska
towards the plains over the nighttime, and it will be an (Table 5).
inverse movement over the daytime. The Frost days (FD0) index, the annual count with daily
Table 3 shows the annual trends in extreme air tempera- minimum temperature below 0 °C, has shown significant
ture indices for the different climatic zones in Nebraska. negative trends at 8 stations, mainly in climatic zones 1 and
However, it is essential to highlight that the number of 2, and 4 stations with significant positive trends (Table 3).
weather stations in each climatic zones is different due to On the other hand, the Growing Season Length (GSL) index
data availability. The Summer days (SU25) index showed showed predominant positive trends, especially in stations
predominant positive trends statistically significant at 5% where the FD0 trends were negative (Table 3). It indicates
level (p ≤ 0.05) when analyzing the climatic zones 1 and that the predominant number of days with a positive mini-
2 and prevailing negative trends for the climatic zones mum temperature contributes to the growing season’s exten-
3 and 4. These results indicate that the annual count of sion, likely favoring agriculture in Nebraska. According to
days when the daily maximum temperature was higher Table 5, about 61% of the stations presented positive (statis-
than 25 °C has a contrasting behavior, i.e., is rising in the tically significant or not) trends for the GSL index.
western part and reducing in the eastern part of Nebraska. Trends for TXx and TXn indices are presented in Table 3.
However, only 8.8% and 15.8% of stations (Table 5) pre- TXx showed a significant positive trend at 2 stations in
sented statistically significant positive and negative trends, climatic zones 1 and 2 while, in contrast, negative trends
respectively. The Iced days (ID0) index showed only one were observed at 14 stations in climatic zones 3 and 4.
station with positive and negative significant trends, while This suggests that the extreme maximum temperatures are
the Tropical nights (TR20) index showed only positive becoming less frequent in the eastern part of Nebraska. We
significant trends at 7 stations (12.3%) (Tables 3 and 5, hypothesize that this is related to the expansion of irrigated
respectively). The annual count with a daily minimum agriculture (USDA-NASS, 2014), causing an increment in
13
Fig. 2 Temporal distribution of annual mean maximum (TMAXmean) and minimum (TMINmean) air temperature for location in different cli-
matic zones of Nebraska, USA
water vapor from ET into the atmosphere. However, the TXn due to the greenhouse effect, i.e., the water vapor increased
index showed significant positive trends only at 9 locations in the irrigated areas, and CO2 and C H4 on a global scale
(15.8%) and in 78.9% of the locations a positive but not sig- (Hartmann et al., 2013). The Diurnal Temperature Range
nificant trend, making it an overall 95% of the stations with (DTR) index showed 9 stations with negative and 4 stations
a positive trend (Table 5), demonstrating that the minimum with significant positive trends in the four climatic zones
daily maximum temperature is increasing. It is observed that (Table 3). 61.4% and 38.6% of the stations (Table 5) pre-
TXx values decreased, and TXn increased, possibly due to sented positive and negative (statistically significant or not)
the increase of irrigated areas. Thus, more water vapor in trends, respectively.
the atmosphere possibly reduces the maximum temperature
induced by greater cloudiness. The increased irrigation cools 3.2 Precipitation extreme indices trends
the air due to water evaporation in the soil and crop leaves,
contributing to lowering the temperature (Nocco et al., 2019; Table 4 summarizes the annual trends of the extreme precip-
Thiery et al., 2020). Table 3 and Fig. 4 show the indices cor- itation indices for the different climatic zones in Nebraska.
responding to daily minimum temperatures’ extreme values, Regardless of the index, only a few stations showed sta-
such as monthly maximum (TNx) and minimum (TNn). It tistically significant trends. This is expected because of
is possible to observe prevailing significant positive trends the highly heterogeneous spatio-temporal variation of the
in both indices. However, the TNn index has shown posi- precipitation behavior. Analyzing the Rx1day and Rx5day
tive trends in all climatic zones, evidencing the increase indices, we observe that only climatic zone 1 has shown
in the minimum temperatures (Table 3), and agrees with positive trends of the maximum precipitation in one and five
the TR20 index showing the nighttime temperatures have consecutive days. The ratio of annual total precipitation to
increased in the last 40 years in Nebraska. The rise in TNn is the number of wet days (SDII index) showed predominant
13
Fig. 3 a–h Seasonal spatial distribution of the monthly minimum value of daily maximum temperature (TXn) and monthly maximum value of
daily maximum temperature (TXx) trends (°C/year) for Nebraska, USA
positive trends for 7 stations and negative trends for 2 sta- The consecutive dry days (CDD) and wet days (CWD)
tions. The heavy precipitation days, represented by the indices presented only a few stations with significant trends.
R10mm and R25mm indices, showed only statistically sig- We can observe that the CWD index showed only nega-
nificant positive trends, mainly in climatic zone 1. Thus, we tive significant trends (4 stations), but 75.4% of the stations
can assume that the mountain’s natural seasonal dynamic (Table 5) presented negative trends. This result indicates a
melting affects regional precipitation due to these climatic reduction in consecutive rainy days in Nebraska during the
zones’ proximity to the Rocky Mountains region. Rice et al. last four decades. Very wet days (R95p) and extremely wet
(2018) argue that wet air masses influence this regional cli- days (R99p) indices, which mean the 95th and 99th per-
mate from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico and centiles of precipitation on wet days in the studied period,
cold, dry air masses from Canada, and that precipitation respectively, showed predominantly significant positive
rates are gradually increasing across the Great Plains due to trends, except in one location (Beaver City) for the R99p
this natural dynamic. index. The same behavior can be observed in the annual total
13
Table 3 Annual trends of Climatic

Id
the extreme indices of air Zones SU25 ID0 TR20 FD0 GSL TXx TXn TNx TNn DTR
temperature for Nebraska, USA. 1 0.061 -0.192 0.002 -0.391 -0.095 -0.039 0.074 0.008 0.124 -0.003
2 0.105 -0.132 0.068 -0.44 0.549 0.017 0.042 0.037 0.095 -0.026
The bold and highlighted values 3 -0.32 0.064 0 -0.579 0.244 -0.021 -0.014 0.034 0.135 -0.08
represent significance at a 5% 4 0.4 -0.073 0.003 0.019 0.198 0.045 0.065 0.005 0.03 0.035
probability level (p ≤ 0.05) Zone 1 5 0.051 0.005 0.013 -0.384 0.13 -0.019 -0.017 0.031 0.063 -0.024
6 0.09 -0.044 -0.001 0.246 0.205 0.006 0.016 -0.015 -0.002 0.03
7 0.01 0.083 0.008 0.176 -0.087 0.004 -0.008 0.005 0.069 0.001
8 0.208 -0.176 0.009 0.166 0.173 0.006 0.026 0.001 0.055 0.024
9 0.212 -0.141 0.014 -0.63 0.639 0.014 0.039 0.048 0.103 -0.039
10 0.278 0.042 0.032 -0.426 0.432 0.017 0.032 0.025 0.115 -0.025
11 0.272 -0.14 0.058 -0.387 0.604 0.01 0.028 0.006 0.107 -0.006
12 0.153 -0.091 0.119 -0.409 0.13 0.028 0.05 0.035 0.092 -0.006
13 0.14 0.033 0.027 0.03 -0.563 0.02 0.039 0.001 0.042 0.007
Zone 2 14 -0.052 0.058 -0.058 -0.081 -0.14 -0.001 0.02 -0.039 0.072 -0.013
15 -0.089 -0.061 -0.029 -0.088 0.138 -0.032 0.044 -0.007 0.094 -0.005
16 0.16 -0.276 0.048 -0.075 0.382 0.02 0.078 0.02 0.063 0.019
17 0.428 -0.156 0.13 -0.21 0.314 0.052 0.028 0.024 0.061 0.02
18 0.152 -0.225 0.075 -0.167 0.45 0 0.087 0.012 0.079 0.001
19 -0.111 -0.128 0.095 -0.215 0.262 -0.012 0.058 0.008 0.073 -0.013
20 -0.132 -0.002 -0.051 0.026 0.09 -0.014 0.063 -0.034 0.127 0.005
21 0.045 -0.237 0.187 -0.6 0.468 0.034 0.064 0.011 0.112 -0.018
22 0.038 0.071 0 0.175 -0.314 0.006 0.032 -0.037 0.086 0.01
23 -0.54 0.261 -0.061 0.25 0.117 -0.043 0.033 -0.018 0.109 -0.024
24 -0.371 0.033 -0.095 0.183 0.245 0.004 0.055 -0.029 0.099 -0.001
25 -0.354 0.112 -0.049 0.376 -0.657 -0.016 0.002 -0.044 0.07 -0.003
26 -0.082 -0.172 -0.039 0.025 -0.042 -0.043 0.091 -0.008 0.044 0.006
27 -0.243 -0.111 -0.011 -0.198 0.347 -0.005 0.03 0.003 0.055 -0.013
Zone 3 28 -0.519 0.078 0.021 0.166 0.092 -0.047 0.016 -0.027 0.097 -0.023
29 -0.298 0.04 -0.021 0.123 -0.176 -0.032 0.03 -0.004 0.106 -0.006
30 -0.074 -0.07 0.1 -0.006 0.054 -0.038 0.059 0.001 0.078 -0.007
31 -0.22 0.159 -0.042 0.079 -0.307 -0.014 0.027 -0.027 0.087 -0.007
32 -0.34 -0.02 -0.003 0.159 0.333 -0.056 0.037 -0.024 0.058 -0.009
33 0.245 -0.273 0.026 -0.129 0.273 -0.05 0.088 -0.002 0.112 0.015
34 -0.223 -0.1 0.098 0.05 0.484 -0.061 0.078 -0.005 0.073 -0.009
35 -0.246 0.003 -0.01 0.06 0.057 -0.039 0.049 0.002 0.098 -0.011
36 -0.004 -0.12 0.052 0.073 0.149 -0.04 0.07 -0.006 0.141 0
37 -0.209 -0.027 0.081 0.004 0.18 -0.065 0.052 0.011 0.091 -0.027
38 0.23 -0.131 -0.022 -0.096 -0.149 -0.039 0.063 -0.007 0.126 0.014
39 0.006 -0.017 0.139 -0.023 -0.226 -0.025 0.057 0.01 0.05 -0.006
40 0.079 -0.168 0.024 -0.081 -0.05 -0.048 0.049 0.012 0.082 0.006
41 0.124 -0.175 0.11 -0.14 0.059 -0.041 0.064 -0.012 0.104 -0.003
42 -0.122 -0.003 -0.053 0.188 0.062 -0.043 0.034 -0.027 0.059 0
43 0.151 -0.099 0.07 -0.15 -0.058 -0.039 0.05 -0.002 0.114 0.004
44 -0.119 -0.019 -0.078 0.123 -0.072 0.002 0.031 0.024 0.06 0.005
45 -0.057 0.08 0.124 0.161 -0.156 -0.011 0.044 -0.012 0.124 -0.009
46 0.096 -0.236 0.168 -0.174 0.162 -0.051 0.088 0.016 0.094 0.001
47 0.193 -0.222 0.111 -0.134 0.234 -0.029 0.079 -0.012 0.093 0.004
48 -0.27 0.043 0.124 0.16 -0.27 -0.061 0.04 -0.004 0.001 -0.011
49 0.346 -0.245 0.084 -0.057 0.069 -0.007 0.085 -0.007 0.141 0.014
50 0.135 -0.255 0.128 -0.269 0.391 -0.015 0.049 0.005 0.128 -0.001
51 0.073 -0.116 0.227 -0.216 0.124 -0.03 0.071 0.012 0.126 -0.018
52 -0.617 0.143 -0.031 -0.131 -0.125 -0.096 0.031 -0.029 0.11 -0.04
53 -0.08 0.042 0.134 0.106 -0.116 0.033 0.024 -0.007 0.094 -0.009
54 -0.197 0.022 -0.046 0.305 -0.019 -0.064 0.049 -0.035 0.059 0.017
Zone 4 55 0.039 0.038 -0.074 0.273 -0.559 0.007 0.031 -0.027 0.06 0.031
56 0.052 -0.013 -0.137 0.187 -0.083 -0.025 0.06 -0.018 0.103 0.014
57 -0.004 -0.085 0.022 0.124 -0.052 -0.027 0.059 -0.003 0.059 0.006
precipitation (PRCPTOT) index. In climatic zone 1, these higher latent heat flux moistens the PBL, which lowers the
three indices showed only significant positive trends evi- lifting condensation level (e.g., cloud base), allowing air
dencing the predominant increase of the extreme precipita- parcels to reach their level of free convection. Higher water
tion events, especially when compared with other precipita- vapor content in the PBL enhances convective available
tion indices such as Rx1day, Rx5day, R10mm, and R25mm. potential energy (CAPE), facilitating convective develop-
The results obtained for precipitation indices show the likely ment (Pielke, 2001).
land–atmosphere feedback of increasing irrigated areas, Based on Tables 4 and 5, it is possible to infer that cli-
which is twofold: irrigation unbalances the partition of the matic zone 1 has experienced a considerable increase in
radiative budget at the Earth’s surface towards latent heat. extreme precipitation events in the last four decades. The
First, the smaller sensible heat and the associated reduction key indicators of extreme precipitation (Rx1day, Rx5day,
in a temperature lower the planetary boundary layer (PBL) SDII, R10mm, R25mm, R95p, R99p, and PRCPTOT indi-
height, stimulating atmospheric convection. Secondly, the ces) were in agreement at most of the stations, especially in
13
Fig. 4 a–h Seasonal spatial distribution of the monthly minimum value of daily minimum temperature (TNn) and monthly maximum value of
daily minimum temperature (TNx) trends (°C/year) for Nebraska, USA
Bridgeport, Harrisburg, and Sidney. In addition, it was veri- methodological section, an IDW interpolation method was
fied that the extreme temperature and precipitation indices used, which assumes that the neighboring values contribute
at the individual weather station had no relationship with more to the interpolated values than distant observations
elevation (not shown). Therefore, there is no significant ele- (Ruiz-Alvarez et al., 2019). The strengths of this method are
vation dependence, and elevation does not appear to affect that it efficiently interpolates very large datasets and is sim-
the variability of these extremes over Nebraska. ple to understand and implement in many different computer
programs. However, this method has weaknesses, such as it
3.3 Seasonal temperature and precipitation often produces contours with bull’s eyes (concentric circles)
extreme indices trends representing increasing or decreasing trends that have no
conceptual explanation, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6 present the seasonal spatial distribution This is reported in the literature as an artificial interruption
of the indices presenting monthly trends. As described in the of spatial continuity.
13
Table 4 Annual trends of the Climatic

Id
extreme indices of precipitation Zones Rx1day Rx5day SDII R10mm R25mm CDD CWD R95p R99p PRCPTOT
1 0.609 0.012 0.061 0.012 -0.257 -0.016 0.38 0.136 1.241
for Nebraska, USA. The bold 2
0.167
0.617 0.942 0.093 0.165 0.046 0.053 -0.003 1846 1.115 3.87
and highlighted values represent 3 0.243 0.141 -0.002 0.046 0.005 -0.016 0.028 0.247 0.684 2.261
significance at a 5% probability 4 0.278 0.252 0.034 0.088 0.033 0.091 0.023 1.731 0.988 2.646
level (p ≤ 0.05) Zone 1 5 -0.13 -0.064 0.003 0.003 0.016 0.013 -0.014 -0.008 -0.542 0.167
6 0.367 0.33 0.02 -0.015 0.019 0.197 0.008 1.179 1 0.107
7 0 0.037 0.009 0.014 0.019 0.096 -0.007 0.717 0.18 0.831
8 0.119 0.175 0 -0.021 0.008 0.097 0.009 0.489 0.181 0.002
9 0.528 0.814 0.077 0.142 0.075 -0.274 -0.014 2.928 1.166 3.669
10 0.139 0.055 0.009 0.052 0.048 0.093 0.012 1.675 0.186 2.382
11 0.22 0.198 0.005 0.018 0.001 -0.251 0.007 0.327 0.2 0.691
12 -0.058 0.37 0.036 0.044 0.033 0.233 -0.008 1.179 0.073 1.322
13 -0.312 -0.271 0.007 -0.029 0.01 0.042 -0.016 0.357 -0.242 -0.304
Zone 2 14 0.044 0.148 -0.001 -0.002 0.024 0.101 0.016 0.8 0.583 0.469
15 -0.093 -0.125 0.012 0.073 0.022 0.388 -0.022 0.612 -0.279 1.438
16 0.084 0.003 0.012 0.048 -0.005 0.256 -0.024 0.331 0.495 1.125
17 -0.021 -0.177 0.012 0.019 0.005 0.193 -0.01 -0.288 -0.092 -0.565
18 -0.053 0.431 0.018 0.087 0.02 0.14 0.006 0.381 -0.394 1.611
19 -0.156 -0.113 -0.01 -0.025 -0.01 -0.029 -0.008 -0.635 -0.287 -0.128
20 0.02 0.011 -0.043 -0.094 -0.011 0.036 -0.019 -0.202 0.119 -1.225
21 -0.122 -0.243 0.015 -0.068 0.008 0.242 -0.006 0.831 0.18 -1.14
22 -0.051 -0.004 0.006 0.018 0.034 -0.195 -0.015 -0.408 -1.135 0.729
23 0.063 0.254 0.002 0.024 0.028 0.312 -0.012 0.628 0.046 0.766
24 0.181 0.136 -0.006 0.003 0.003 0.113 0.018 1051 0.7 0.981
25 -0.103 0.091 -0.023 -0.009 -0.002 0.004 -0.001 -0.238 -0.504 0.505
26 0.142 0.035 0.019 0.04 0.012 -0.039 -0.005 0.778 0.08 1.256
27 0.183 0.194 0.018 0.048 0.028 0.217 -0.021 2.054 0.287 2.29
Zone 3 28 0.228 0.026 -0.002 -0.04 0.001 -0.082 -0.029 0.505 0.356 -0.575
29 0.204 0.516 0.034 0.081 0.037 0.073 -0.012 2.141 1.035 1.894
30 -0.153 0.041 0.037 -0.03 0.047 0.139 -0.016 1.731 0.599 0.667
31 0.409 0.497 -0.017 -0.027 0.017 -0.093 -0.006 1.028 0.68 0.935
32 0.168 0.11 0.026 0.035 0.039 0.257 0.007 1.562 0.753 1.875
33 -0.327 -0.212 0.001 0.007 0.004 0.113 0.005 -0.232 -0.247 0.224
34 0.196 0.168 0.011 0.048 0.045 -0.072 -0.001 1.295 0.404 1.914
35 0.085 -0.105 0.008 -0.019 0.039 0.048 -0.001 0.455 -0.404 0.002
36 0.335 0.589 0.029 0.03 0.021 0.041 -0.007 1.967 1.103 1.924
37 -0.195 -0.129 0.008 0.02 0.015 -0.055 -0.013 0.02 -0.11 0.878
38 -0.096 -0.165 0.04 0.077 0.051 -0.038 -0.008 1.741 0.28 2.218
39 0.214 -0.043 0 -0.051 -0.048 -0.053 -0.004 0.686 0.411 -0.96
40 0.225 0.066 -0.021 -0.013 -0.003 -0.154 0.001 0.694 1.046 1.03
41 0.112 -0.419 0.004 -0.019 0.006 -0.025 -0.023 0.128 0.713 0.536
42 -0.018 -0.828 -0.039 0.027 -0.024 -0.18 -0.009 -1.412 -0.313 0.12
43 0.462 0.387 0.037 0.006 0.043 -0.172 -0.014 2.11 0.742 1.317
44 -0.177 -0.331 -0.01 -0.03 -0.024 -0.071 -0.012 -1.186 -0.291 -0.776
45 -0.198 -0.547 0.004 -0.001 -0.004 0.071 -0.001 -0.388 -0.562 -0.623
46 0.097 0.001 -0.016 -0.085 -0.022 0.103 0.007 0.987 -0.038 -0.32
47 0.136 0.026 0.016 0.008 -0.001 -0.09 -0.015 1.008 0.814 0.859
48 0.137 -0.039 -0.013 0.018 -0.013 -0.387 -0.014 -0.142 0.65 -0.012
49 0.171 0.476 0.018 0.042 -0.02 -0.185 -0.005 0.607 1.457 0.875
50 0.247 0.019 0.066 0.047 0.02 -0.071 -0.022 0.521 0.793 0.545
51 0.528 0.367 0.036 0.066 0.014 0.017 -0.008 2.484 1.427 2.378
52 0.158 -0.227 -0.015 -0.036 0.013 -0.084 0.003 -0.452 0.011 0.055
53 0.078 -0.726 0.008 -0.027 -0.039 0.144 -0.023 -0.635 0.094 -2.368
54 0.34 0.437 0.037 0.061 0.056 -0.078 -0.013 1.464 0.508 1.762
Zone 4 55 0.171 0.177 -0.007 -0.043 -0.039 -0.082 -0.001 0.037 -0.018 -0.713
56 0.4 0.546 0.032 0.089 0.077 -0.143 -0.004 2.622 1.154 3.252
57 0.014 -0.272 0.033 -0.041 0.023 -0.013 -0.019 0.776 -0.139 -0.799
The TNn and TNx indices, as well as seasonal spatial the TNx index, presenting some increasing and decreasing
distribution, are described in Fig. 3. There is no predomi- trend areas (Fig. 3g and 3h).
nant behavior for the TNn index in the spring and summer The TXn and TXx indices’ seasonal spatial distribu-
seasons, presenting increasing and decreasing trend areas tion is described in Fig. 4. There is no prevalent behavior
(Fig. 3a and 3b). However, there is a predominant TNn for the TXn index in the spring season, presenting high
positive trend in the fall and winter seasons, especially in variability in the trends (Fig. 4a). Still, in summer, it was
climatic zones 1 and 2, in the south of climatic zone 3 in observed a positive trend in climatic zones 1 and 2, nega-
fall (Fig. 3c), and most of Nebraska in Winter (Fig. 3d). The tive trends in the west part of zone 3, and variability in
same behavior presented by the TNn index for spring and zone 4 (Fig. 4b). There is a predominant TXn positive
summer seasons can be observed in the TNx index but with a trend in fall in climatic zones 3 and 4, in the south of zone
more intense positive trend in the climatic zones 1 and 2 for 2 and west of zone 1 (Fig. 3c), and high variability in
summer (Fig. 3e and 3f). Unlike the TNn index shown in the winter (Fig. 3d). Similar behavior presented by the TXn
fall and winter seasons, there is no predominant behavior for index for spring (Fig. 4c) and summer (Fig. 4d) seasons
13
Table 5 The percentage of Indices Positive significant Positive not significant Negative significant Negative not
locations showing significant trend (%) trend (%) trend (%) significant trend
and not significant trends (%)
at a 5% probability level
(p ≤ 0.05) for the temperature SU25 8.8 43.9 15.8 31.6
and precipitation indices for
ID0 1.8 33.3 1.8 63.2
Nebraska, USA
TR20 12.3 52.6 0.0 35.1
FD0 7.0 42.1 14.0 36.8
GSL 10.5 50.9 5.3 33.3
TNn 57.9 40.4 0.0 1.8
TNx 7.0 40.4 5.3 47.4
TXn 15.8 78.9 0.0 5.3
TXx 3.5 29.8 24.6 42.1
DTR 7.0 36.8 15.8 40.4
Rx1day 5.3 64.9 0.0 29.8
Rx5day 5.3 59.6 3.5 31.6
SDII 12.3 61.4 3.5 22.8
R10mm 5.3 56.1 0.0 38.6
R25mm 10.5 63.2 0.0 26.3
CDD 5.3 47.4 3.5 43.9
CWD 0.0 24.6 7.0 68.4
R95p 7.0 70.2 0.0 22.8
R99p 3.5 66.7 1.8 28.1
PRCPTOT 5.3 70.2 0.0 24.6
Fig. 5 a–d Seasonal spatial distribution of diurnal temperature range (DTR) trends (°C/year) for Nebraska, USA
is observed to the TXx index. Still, the positive trend is the TXx trends showed a different spatial distribution to
becoming more intense in the climatic zones 1 and 2 for winter’s TXn trends, with predominant decreasing trends.
summer. In the fall season, the TXx index’s behavior was Figure 5 shows the seasonal spatial distribution of DTR
similar to the presented by the TXn (Fig. 4g). However, trends. It is evident that there is a predominant positive
13
Fig. 6 a–h Seasonal spatial distribution trends of monthly maximum 1-day precipitation (RX1day) (mm/day/year) and monthly maximum 5-day
precipitation (RX5days) (mm/5-day/year) indices for Nebraska, USA
trend in most of Nebraska, except in part of climatic zones predominant increasing trends in the fall, except the cli-
1 and 2, in the spring (Fig. 5a), fall (Fig. 5c), and winter matic zone 4 (Fig. 6c).
(Fig. 5d). However, in the summer, climatic zones 3 and 4
show negative trends associated with the negative trends 3.4 Extreme indices and crop yield
presented by the TXx index (Fig. 4f).
The analysis of Fig. 6 shows evidence that the pre- Table 6 shows Pearson’s coefficient (r) obtained from the
cipitation events in one and five consecutive days have correlation between the precipitation and temperature
increased, especially in the climatic zone 1 in the fall and extreme indices and crop yields (corn and soybean) for
winter seasons and spring and fall seasons for Rx1day the climatic zones 3 and 4, where the bold values represent
and Rx5day, respectively. Additionally, climatic zone significance at 5% level of probability (p ≤ 0.05) for the
4 has shown increasing trends in summer (Fig. 6b) and two-tailed test. The analyses were divided into the irri-
winter (Fig. 6d) for Rx1day, and summer (Fig. 6f) and gated and rainfed crops. The indices with monthly output
fall (Fig. 6g) for Rx5day indices. The Rx1day showed were obtained as an average of the period from April to
13
Table 6 Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) of precipitation and

temperature extreme indices and crop yields (corn and soybean) for
the climatic zones 3 and 4 in Nebraska, USA. The bold values repre-
sent significance at a 5% probability level (p ≤ 0.05) for the two-tailed
test
Indices Corn yield Corn yield Soybean Soybean yield

(Irrigated) (Non-irri- yield (Irri- (Non-irri-
gated) gated) gated)
FD0 0.020 0.003 − 0.011 − 0.034

ID0 − 0.118 0.126 − 0.096 0.143
SU25 − 0.017 − 0.394 − 0.024 − 0.332
TNn* 0.144 0.048 0.195 0.035
TNx* − 0.245 − 0.241 − 0.170 − 0.182 Fig. 7 Temporal distribution of average diurnal temperature range
TXn* 0.112 − 0.027 0.122 − 0.039 (DTR) (°C) and corn and soybeans yield (kg/ha) for climatic zones 3
TXx* − 0.285 − 0.492 − 0.296 − 0.491 and 4 in Nebraska, USA
DTR* − 0.282 − 0.660 − 0.308 − 0.636
GSL 0.001 − 0.021 0.050 0.061
average of the difference in daily maximum and minimum
CDD 0.066 − 0.158 0.056 − 0.102
temperatures, i.e., it is an average that computes all mini-
CWD − 0.213 0.219 − 0.173 0.253
mums and month highs. Therefore, the correlation between
R10mm − 0.010 0.429 0.014 0.401
DTR and yield is due to the inverted variability of both
R25mm 0.069 0.450 0.100 0.455
and not increasing and decreasing trends over time.
RX1day* 0.179 0.438 0.174 0.412
As expected, the extreme precipitation events indices
RX5day* 0.000 0.351 0.016 0.351
showed a significant positive correlation with the rainfed
R95p 0.140 0.481 0.160 0.487
crop yield. Based on these indices, we observe that the num-
R99p 0.141 0.391 0.150 0.382
ber of days with precipitation higher than 25 mm (R25mm),
SDII 0.156 0.396 0.171 0.412
associated with the number of very wet days (R95p), con-
PRCPTOT 0.031 0.474 0.053 0.445
tributes to the total annual precipitation (PRCPTOT) and
*
Average for April to September, which is the growing season for have a critical contribution to crop yield.
Nebraska’s studied crops
4 Discussion
September, which is the period that best represents the
growing season for the studied crops in Nebraska (USDA- Several studies have evidenced that the Earth’s climate has
NASS, 2010). changed on global, regional, and local scales (IPCC, 2021).
The SU25, TXx, and DTR indices showed a significant Analyzing the dataset collected by dense observational net-
negative correlation with non-irrigated corn and soybean works, the results clearly show that our planet is warming
yields (Table 6). These results suggest that the number (Bathke et al., 2014; IPCC, 2021). Changes in air tempera-
of days with a maximum temperature higher than 25 °C, ture and precipitation represent only a few primary indica-
as well as the maximum values of daily maximum tem- tors of a changing climate but significantly affect society.
perature and the difference between daily maximum and While the world is warming up as a whole, observations
minimum temperature (diurnal temperature range), is an indicate that climate changes in space and time have not
environmental factor that can impact the rainfed crop pro- been consistent. However, the highest warming rates are
duction negatively in Nebraska. Additionally, the DTR mainly located in the Northern Hemisphere land areas,
index showed the highest significant negative correlation which have experienced air temperature changes as great as
and influenced the irrigated soybean yield, as observed 2.5 °C from 1880 to 2012 (Bathke et al., 2014).
in Fig. 7. Nevertheless, there is an upward trend in crop The main findings in this study about the trends in
yields, especially maize, possibly resulting from genetic extreme air temperature and precipitation indices agree
and technological improvements. Table 3 shows that TNn with Alexander et al. (2006), which obtained trends in sea-
tends to increase, especially in Regions 3 and 4. However, sonal and annual extreme air temperature and precipita-
there is no statistically significant correlation (Table 6) tion indices using results from several studies worldwide.
between TNn and crop yield. This reinforces the correla- Their findings showed significant changes in air temperature
tion between DTR and yield since TNn occurs on a sin- extremes linked with warming, particularly for those indi-
gle day of the month (season, year). DTR is the monthly ces obtained from the daily minimum air temperature. Also,
13
they observed that more than 70% of the global land region influence on the climate system, primarily due to increased
sampled showed a substantial decline in the annual number anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions since the pre-
of cold nights and a significant increase in the annual occur- industrial era, driven mainly by economic and population
rence of warm nights, which agrees with the results of this growth. Consequently, changes in extreme weather and cli-
study. The maximum daily air temperature indices showed mate events have been noted since about 1950, including a
similar trends but with lower magnitudes. Changes in pre- decrease in extremely cold air temperatures, an increase in
cipitation have shown a widespread and substantial rise, but extreme warm air temperatures, and the number of intense
the changes are much less spatially consistent than changes precipitation occurrences in many regions, as observed in
in air temperature. Donat et al. (2013) provided the latest this study. The systematic positive trends of average maxi-
global grid dataset of extreme climate indicators (HadEX2). mum (TMAXmean) and minimum air temperatures (TMIN-
The main results included extensive and substantial warming mean) can be observed from Fig. 2 and Table 3, with more
patterns linked to extreme air temperature indices, mostly stations showing significant trends in TMINmean, dem-
stronger for daily minimum air temperature–based indices onstrating that Nebraska has experienced overall warming
than daily air maximum temperature–based indices. They during the last four decades. Separating the indices cor-
agreed with Alexander et al. (2006) that changes in extreme responding to nighttime (TR20, FD0, TNx, and TNn) and
precipitation are usually more complex spatially and mostly daytime (SU25, ID0, TXx, and TXn) air temperatures, it is
less significant locally, but on a worldwide scale, the intense noticed that the low-temperature trends are higher than the
precipitation is increasing on average. Our results also agree high-temperature trend, which implies that both tendencies
with those found by Vincent and Mekis (2006), which exam- show general warming, but the nighttime warming being
ined the trends in Canada’s extreme air temperature and pre- more intense. These results agree with the USGCRP (2018)
cipitation indices. The assessment of air temperature indices report, which showed that freezing days and hot days are
suggests the incidence of fewer cold nights, cold days, and expected to become more frequent. Thus, cold waves are
frost days, as well as warmer nights, hot days, and summer predicted to become less intense, while heatwaves become
days across the region. Also, the precipitation indices assess- more intense, as stated by IPCC (2021).
ment indicated more days with precipitation and a decline It was observed that the precipitation indices fluctuated
in the number of successive dry days. The results obtained more, showing positive and negative trends but with pre-
in the present study also agree with those of Peterson et al. dominant positive trends, which indicate precipitation vol-
(2008). ume and intensity (Rx1day, Rx5day, R25mm, R99p, and
On a regional scale, our results agree with Santos et al. PRCPTOT). Bathke et al. (2014) reported that there had
(2011), which analyzed the trends in 20 extreme indices been an increase in the number of average annual heavy pre-
of air temperature and precipitation for the state of Utah. cipitation occurrences in northern parts of the states within
They identified that the difference between the maximum the Great Plains, including eastern Nebraska, resulting in a
and minimum air temperatures decreases, indicating that rise in flood magnitude. However, unlike air temperature,
the indices related to the air minimum temperature increase there is no discernible trend in mean annual precipitation in
faster than those related to the air maximum temperature. Nebraska. Overall, these trends are consistent with changes
Like this study, their precipitation indices showed a consid- experienced across the continental USA (Santos et al.,
erable variation for the studied area and, in general, with few 2011; Dulière et al., 2013; Bathke et al., 2014; Schoof and
statistically significant trends. Dulière et al. (2013) studied Robeson, 2016; USGCRP, 2018). The predominant rise in
the climatic changes in western North America and observed extreme precipitation in climatic zone 1 (Table 4) is essential
a predominant warming trend over the entire study area. to highlight that precipitation is generally a significant limit-
The trends in precipitation indices were more varied but ing factor for crop production in the western half of the state,
indicated moderately increasing precipitation volume and where precipitation steadily increased from the southwest
intensity. Furthermore, our results are in the same direction corner (zone 1) to the eastern portion (zone 4) (Sharma and
as Schoof and Robeson (2016) reported, which used a high- Irmak, 2012a).
resolution observational dataset for some US sub-regions. Summarizing the seasonal behavior of the air tempera-
They noted that many areas have already experienced statis- ture (TXx, TXn, TNx, TNn, and DTR) and precipitation
tically significant rises in extreme events, with an increas- (Rx1day and Rx5day) indices, it was observed that TXx
ing trend in minimum air temperature and regional changes increased significantly in the spring and fall and decreased
(both warming and cooling) in daytime air temperatures and in the summer. The winter season had a predominant rise,
the precipitation-derived indices. but only a few stations had statistical significance. The TXn
Our findings, USGCRP (2018) and IPCC (2018, 2021) showed a contrary behavior for spring but the same for the
reports, show that the climate system over the study region other seasons, with fall presenting more statistically signifi-
is warming. IPCC (2018) states that this results from human cant trends. The TNx index showed no predominant pattern;
13
however, the TNn index showed a considerable rise in sum- crop physiological development, dry matter accumulation,
mer, fall, and winter. Combining the observed maximum and grain yield, particularly during the grain-filling phase
and minimum air temperature trends resulted in intense for corn and during pod formation and pod-filling stages
decreasing DTR trends in the summer. These results agreed for soybean. Decreases in TXx can also reduce evaporative
with those found in Skaggs and Irmak (2012), who observed losses and crop water stress, reducing crop water require-
predominant seasonal increases in minimum air temperature ments (Skaggs and Irmak, 2012). However, we observed a
and decreasing trends for maximum air temperatures and predominant positive trend for TNn, which means that the
DTR in summer, especially for Nebraska’s central part. The nighttime air temperature increases in Nebraska and may
extreme precipitation indices showed no consistent seasonal significantly impact crop productivity. Skaggs and Irmak
pattern for the studied period. (2012) and Hatfield and Prueger (2015) outlined that high
The combination of the observed annual and seasonal nighttime air temperature leads to higher plant respiration
trends of the air temperature extreme indices may be an indi- and earlier plant maturation, reducing crop yields. In addi-
cation of anthropogenic activities influence such as green- tion, high nighttime temperatures accelerate plants’ senes-
house gas emissions and land use/land cover (LULC), which cence and maturity, hence shortening the grain-filling period
are estimated to have caused approximately 1.0 °C of global (Hatfield, 2016). The observed increasing trends in TNn,
warming above pre-industrial levels (IPCC, 2021). Skaggs which are predominant compared to the decrease in TXx,
and Irmak (2012) argue that cropland dominates the eastern indicate that Nebraska’s agriculture will likely be negatively
and central Nebraska, mainly corn and soybean, for grain, impacted. USGCRP (2018) stated that rising temperatures
while prairie and pasture land dominates western Nebraska. are expected to be the most significant contributing factor for
The total land area under irrigation in Nebraska has risen the declining agricultural productivity during the growing
from about 1.7 million ha in 1970 to over 3.5 million ha season in the midwestern USA.
in 2007, which is more than in any other state, with corn Air temperature is only a single restriction on crop pro-
being the main crop (Skaggs and Irmak, 2012). According ductivity because drought and short-term water deficits can
to USDA (2018), over ten thousand new irrigation wells are reduce plant photosynthetic and transpiration efficiencies
added every decade in Nebraska to irrigate new croplands and negatively impact plant root development, which col-
and maintain high crop yields through irrigation practices. lectively can negatively impact the grain yield (Hatfield
Extensive irrigation impacts surface and air temperatures as et al., 2018). As expected, the extreme precipitation indi-
it reduces sensible heat flux, enhancing ET into the lower ces showed a positive correlation with the rainfed crop
atmosphere across the region, which decreases the daytime yield (Table 6) because they provide water to prevent the
surface temperatures during the summer irrigation season hydric deficit in these areas caused by the low precipitation
(June to August), supporting the results obtained in this amounts during the growing season, which is not enough to
study. Similarly, Skaggs and Irmak (2012) assumed that supply the plants’ water demand fully. However, the extreme
the observed reductions in the daily air temperature range precipitation indices did not show any annual or seasonal
across Nebraska’s agricultural areas could be due to a rise predominant and significant trend for climatic zones 3 and 4,
in atmospheric moisture and decreased incoming shortwave probably because they present higher precipitation rates than
radiation owing to considerable irrigation expansion in cen- zones 1 and 2. We also found only weak, non-significant
tral Nebraska. correlations between the extreme indices for precipitation
Analyzing the correlation between extreme indices and and irrigated crop yields. This finding was also expected
crop yields described in Table 6, we observed that the because irrigation notoriously acts as a buffer to protect the
decreasing trends in extreme maximum air temperature and plants from prolonged drought periods.
DTR indices showed negative correlations with rainfed corn The effect of extreme air temperature and precipitation
and soybean yields in Nebraska, with the DTR displaying on plants depends on the crop management related to the
the highest negative correlations and also showing influ- variety planted. Almost 40% of the cornfields in Nebraska
ences on irrigated soybean yield (Fig. 7). As the duration are rainfed (USDA, 2018), and the variety used is likely
of grain development in cereals is mainly determined by to be more water- and heat-tolerant than those cultivated
air temperature, decreases in SU25 and TXx indices during in irrigated conditions. However, extreme air temperatures
this time may extend the crop maturity, resulting in higher can cause plant heat stress and significantly reduce plant
crop yields, as described by Skaggs and Irmak (2012). Hat- growth and development (Lipiec et al., 2013). Both corn
field and Prueger (2015) found that yields increase with air and soybean (majority crop cultivated in Nebraska) are also
temperature up to 29 °C for corn and 30 °C for soybean. susceptible to extreme heat (and water) stress during early
On the other hand, the air temperature above these thresh- vegetative stages (pollination for corn and flowering for soy-
olds is very damaging because heat stress harms the plants, bean). It is essential to note that extreme air temperature is
decreasing crop yields. Thus, decreases in TXx can benefit a complex function of intensity, length, and air temperature
13
increase rate. Also, the effect of an increase in soil tempera- plans for investments in water supply facilities, regional
ture due to an increase in air temperature is possibly even infrastructure, agricultural science and technology research
stronger when accompanied by a decrease in soil water con- capacity, agriculture’s long-term future, and the likelihood
tent. Therefore, monitoring soil moisture during a heatwave of climate change are expected to be explicit in their dis-
is critical, and retaining appropriate soil moisture in the soil cussions. Farmers select crop varieties and animal breeds
profile is essential to decreasing heat stress on plants (Irmak well suited to local conditions. However, as those conditions
and Mutiibwa, 2010). change rapidly in the coming decades, many farmers will be
Corn maximizes its growth rate at 30 °C, but days with forced to rethink some of their decisions, which could mean
temperatures hotter than that threshold can cause stresses making new capital investments, finding new markets, and
negatively impacting the yield. Corn fields under irrigation learning new practices.
have the advantage over rainfed fields because when soil Adaptive behaviors can occur at several levels of the agri-
moisture is sufficient and available, there is little impact on cultural system, for example, at the business level (via pro-
yields, even on hotter days around 35 °C. However, as Xiao duction changes, growth, or intensification), the market level
et al. (2011) noted, prolonged exposure to high tempera- (by shifting trade and consumption patterns), and/or at the
tures reduces the volume of pollen shed and dramatically its policy level (through programs that spread risk and support
viability. Depending on the corn growth stage, the impact adaptive responses). Plant sector adaptation might include
of the heatwave can be worse. In Nebraska, it is prevalent adjusting planting dates, selecting cultivars with various
during the growing season to have consecutive days with maturity ratings, using more water-efficient crops and sup-
air temperatures above 30 °C, mainly in July and August, plementary irrigation to counter precipitation deficiencies,
when the reproductive stage occurs, and a critical period or changing crop types and cropping patterns for a specific
for moisture availability that can affect pollen production site. Annual crops are more adaptable than perennial crops
and its viability (Shah et al. 2011). Temperatures beyond in terms of adaptation techniques.
38 °C drastically negatively impact maize’s economic yield It is necessary to analyze the susceptibility of diverse
(Koirala et al., 2017). For soybeans, the suitable temperature plant production systems to substantial direct and indi-
ranges are 15–22 °C at emergence, 20–25 °C at flowering, rect climate change impacts and their linkages. Develop
and 15–22 °C at maturity (Liu et al., 2008). When air tem- and expand the knowledge, management techniques, and
peratures exceed 30 °C, soybeans can experience heat stress tools required by agricultural stakeholders in the USA to
regardless of their reproductive stage, resulting in harmful improve plant production systems’ adaptive capacity to cli-
effects on the number of pods formed, while temperatures matic variability and extremes. While current management
above 37 °C severely limit pod formation. and agronomic choices have shown a substantial ability for
It is important to mention that extreme precipitation rates extending adaption prospects, new adaptive management
in Nebraska occurring during planting time are associated tactics, strong risk management approaches, and breeding
with yield loss for corn and soybeans because they shorten and genetic improvements all have significant potential that
the growing season. A late planting typically leads to a late needs to be studied.
harvest (or anticipated harvest), resulting in yield loss due The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
to cold weather in October, affecting grain quality. High (IANR) (http://agritools.unl.edu/management-strategies/#)
humidity also increases the air’s thermal mass and may pro- has proposed management strategies to be applied under
vide extra stored heat and insulation at night, affecting plant extreme climate situations. Following the study’s main find-
growth. Even over the growing season, extreme precipitation ings, which are increasing maximum and minimum tem-
rates may result in field flooding and hail, causing damage peratures and high precipitation variability, the IANR shows
to the crops. According to the obtained results in this study, several prominent impacts and management strategies. They
plant cultivation diversity over the next decades would be can be described as soil moisture decrease (reduce seed-
more beneficial and economical for the growers to adapt to ing rate, irrigate, surface residue, drought-tolerant crop),
climate change impacts in Nebraska. more tillage (reduce tillage to maintain surface moisture),
Governments recognize that climate change is likely, and insect pressure increases (scout, use insecticide), irrigation
on a scale beyond the limits of recorded human experience increase—increased cost, time, and reduced water quantity
is the starting point for fruitful policy discussions about (irrigation efficiency), faster crop maturation and stress
climate change adaptation policies for agriculture. This (drought-tolerant crops, residue for cool soil, irrigation),
understanding should now be explicitly incorporated into all crop water stress on dry land (residue cover, reduce seeding
long-term agricultural policies. These policies should now rate, alternate crop), severe weather—insurance decision,
include assumptions about climate change, just as they do crop damage (reduce risk by diversification or insurance),
about technological change, land use, and regional develop- flooding or ponding (drain tile, retire low-land acres) among
ment, among others. The government agencies’ long-term others.
13
Based on the indices’ trends, these extremes are more that crop production in Nebraska is considerably influenced
frequent and intense, being necessary to plan for these sce- by temperature and precipitation extremes.
narios. Selecting crop varieties with better resistance to tem-
perature extremes will help to reduce the effect. Extreme Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the High Plains
Regional Climate Center (HPRCC) (https://hprcc.unl.edu/index.php)
temperature effects are observed on grain yield but not on for providing the daily precipitation and temperature dataset. Also,
biomass. Therefore, selecting other non-grain plants such as acknowledge the United States Department of Agriculture/National
potatoes and perennial crops such as alfalfa may reduce the Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) for providing the
impact of future temperature extremes (or climate change) county-level yield data for irrigated and rainfed corn and soybean. The
first author also thanks the National Council for Scientific and Tech-
on the economy. Identifying proper planting and harvesting nological Development (CNPq) for the Research Productivity Grant
time may also aid in the selection of early and late varieties. (Grant N. 304493/2019-8). Finally, the authors also acknowledge Ph.D.
In addition, weather forecasting is crucial to track heat waves Thiago V. dos Santos for his essential comments and Lacey Bodnar
to make decisions to prevent yield losses. from the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln for her invaluable assistance and the
Future climate is characterized by increasing tempera- DWFI for all the support.
ture, reducing soil moisture, leading to plant water stress,
and increasing crop production’s negative impact. Further Author contribution Conceptualization, C. A. C. dos Santos, C. M. U.
research is needed to evaluate the effect of extreme tempera- Neale, and C. M. Rowe; methodology, C. A. C. dos Santos and O. Ruiz-
tures on plant growth at different phenological stages and its Alvarez; software, C. A. C. dos Santos and O. Ruiz-Alvarez; validation,
C. A. C. dos Santos and M. M. Mekonnen; formal analysis, C. A. C.
impact on productivity within this cope. dos Santos, C. M. U. Neale, M. M. Mekonnen, I. Z. Gonçalves, G. de
Oliveira, O. Ruiz-Alvarez, B. Safa, and C. M. Rowe; investigation, C.
A. C. dos Santos, C. M. U. Neale, and C. M. Rowe; resources, C. A.
C. dos Santos and C. M. U. Neale; data curation, C. A. C. dos San-
5 Conclusions tos; writing-original draft preparation, C. A. C. dos Santos, C. M. U.
Neale, M. M. Mekonnen, B. Safa, and C. M. Rowe; writing-review and
This study analyzed the spatial and temporal impact of cli- editing, C. A. C. dos Santos, C. M. U. Neale, M. M. Mekonnen, I. Z.
Gonçalves, G. de Oliveira, O. Ruiz-Alvarez, B. Safa, and C. M. Rowe;
mate variability on Nebraska’s agricultural production. First, visualization, C. A. C. dos Santos and O. Ruiz-Alvarez; supervision,
regional trends of extreme indices were obtained based on C. A. C. dos Santos, C. M. U. Neale, and C. M. Rowe. All authors have
long-term multi-station observational daily air temperature read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
and precipitation data. Then, they were correlated with corn
and soybean yields under different field management condi- Funding This study was funded by the Coordination for the Improve-
ment of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)—Finance Code 001
tions (rainfed and irrigation). Based on the results obtained, (Visiting Professor Fellowship—Grant No. 88881.172029/2018–01).
it was concluded that (i) there is a predominant increase in
mean maximum and minimum temperatures in Nebraska in Data availability https:// h prcc. u nl. e du/ i ndex. p hp; United States
the last four decades; (ii) the increase in the minimum tem- Department of Agriculture/National Agricultural Statistics Service
perature has shown a nighttime warming trend; (iii) regard- (USDA-NASS, 2018) (https://www.nass.usda.gov/Data_and_Stati
stics/).
less of the precipitation index, only a few stations showed
statistically significant trends, but it was possible to observe Code availability Rclimdex (http:/etccdi.pacificclimate.org/software.
that the climatic zone 1 in Nebraska has experienced a more shtml).
considerable increase in the extreme precipitation events;
(iv) the extreme maximum temperatures and diurnal tem- Declarations
perature range indices showed a significant negative correla-
tion with non-irrigated corn and soybean yields; (v) the DTR Conflict of interest The authors declare no competing interests.
index showed the highest significant negative correlation and
also presented influences on the irrigated soybean yield; and
(vi) as expected, the indices which represent the extreme
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Theoretical and Applied Climatology

Trends of extreme air temperature and precipitation and their impact

Received: 12 December 2020 / Accepted: 15 December 2021

1 Introduction decades compared to earlier decades. IPCC (2021) reported

Table 1 Weather stations Climatic zone ID Location Latitude Longitude Elevation (m)

Table 1 (continued) Climatic zone ID Location Latitude Longitude Elevation (m)

Zone 4 38 Ashland 41.0408 − 96.3811 340.8

TMAXmean Mean maximum Monthly mean value of daily maximum temperature °C

Table 3 Annual trends of Climatic

Table 4 Annual trends of the Climatic

Table 6 Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) of precipitation and

Indices Corn yield Corn yield Soybean Soybean yield

FD0 0.020 0.003 − 0.011 − 0.034

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Santos Et Al. (2022) (TAAC)

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Santos Et Al. (2022) (TAAC)

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Santos Et Al. (2022) (TAAC)

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Theoretical and Applied Climatology

Trends of extreme air temperature and precipitation and their impact

Received: 12 December 2020 / Accepted: 15 December 2021

1 Introduction decades compared to earlier decades. IPCC (2021) reported

Table 1 Weather stations Climatic zone ID Location Latitude Longitude Elevation (m)

Table 1 (continued) Climatic zone ID Location Latitude Longitude Elevation (m)

Zone 4 38 Ashland 41.0408 − 96.3811 340.8

TMAXmean Mean maximum Monthly mean value of daily maximum temperature °C

Table 3 Annual trends of Climatic

Table 4 Annual trends of the Climatic

Table 6 Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) of precipitation and

Indices Corn yield Corn yield Soybean Soybean yield

FD0 0.020 0.003 − 0.011 − 0.034

You might also like

Table 1 Weather stations Climatic zone ID Location Latitude Longitude Elevation (m)

Table 1 (continued) Climatic zone ID Location Latitude Longitude Elevation (m)

Table 3 Annual trends of Climatic

Table 4 Annual trends of the Climatic

Table 6 Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) of precipitation and