310 - Investigating Temporal and Spatial Long-Term Trends of Precipitation, Temperature, and Atmospheric Pressure over the Conterminous United States (CONUS)

This research delves into analyzing temporal and spatial long-term trends in critical meteorological variables—precipitation, temperature, and atmospheric pressure—across the Conterminous United States (CONUS). Precipitation trends are scrutinized, shedding light on shifting rainfall patterns, while temperature trends provide a comprehensive understanding of the region's warming or cooling tendencies. Additionally, atmospheric pressure trends are explored, elucidating their impact on the dynamics of weather systems. The scope of this study encompasses an extensive historical timeframe, spanning from 1979 to 2022, providing a profound understanding of climate variability across the US. To investigate these trends, we leverage the North American Land Data Assimilation System, Version 2 (NLDAS-2), a high-resolution (0.125°) reanalysis dataset, which offers a wealth of meteorological information. Robust statistical tools, including parametric techniques like linear regression and non-parametric methods such as Theil-Sen analysis, are employed to assess the magnitudes and directions of observed trends. Statistical significance is tested using the Mann-Kendall test, ensuring the robustness of the identified trends. The outcomes of this study reveal monthly, seasonal, and yearly trends in rainfall, temperature, and atmospheric pressure for each pixel, as well as the mean trend for a total of 344 climate divisions within CONUS. These results will help to study the spatial variability of trends and identify divisions that exhibit statistically significant trends (positive or negative). Understanding the temporal and spatial long-term trends in these meteorological variables is paramount in the context of climate change. It equips stakeholders with the knowledge needed to proactively address the impacts of a changing climate and bolster resilience in the CONUS region, ultimately contributing to more sustainable and adaptable practices for the future.