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Modeling monthly meteorological and agronomic frost days, based on minimum air temperature, in Center-Southern Brazil

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Abstract

Although Brazil is predominantly a tropical country, frosts are observed with relative high frequency in the Center-Southern states of the country, affecting mainly agriculture, forestry, and human activities. Therefore, information about the frost climatology is of high importance for planning of these activities. Based on that, the aims of the present study were to develop monthly meteorological (F MET) and agronomic (F AGR) frost day models, based on minimum shelter air temperature (T MN), in order to characterize the temporal and spatial frost days variability in Center-Southern Brazil. Daily minimum air temperature data from 244 weather stations distributed across the study area were used, being 195 for developing the models and 49 for validating them. Multivariate regression models were obtained to estimate the monthly T MN, once the frost day models were based on this variable. All T MN regression models were statistically significant (p < 0.001), presenting adjusted R 2 between 0.69 and 0.90. Center-Southern Brazil is mainly hit by frosts from mid-fall (April) to mid-spring (October). The period from November to March is considered as frost-free, being very rare a frost day within that period. Monthly F MET and F AGR presented significant sigmoidal relationships with T MN (p < 0.0001), with adjusted R 2 above of 0.82. The residuals of the frost day models were random, which means that the sigmoidal models performed quite well for interpreting the frost day variability throughout the study area. The highlands of Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, and Minas Gerais had in average more than 25 and 13 frosts per year, respectively, for F MET and F AGR. The F MET and F AGR maps developed in this study for Center-Southern Brazil is a useful tool for farmers, foresters, and researchers, since they contribute to reduce frost spatial and temporal uncertainty, helping in planning project for strategic purposes. Furthermore, the monthly F MET and F AGR maps for this Brazilian region are the first zoning of these variables for the country.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the meteorological institutes of the states of São Paulo (IAC/CIIAGRO, www.ciiagro.sp.gov.br), of Santa Catarina (EPAGRI, http://ciram.epagri.sc.gov.br), and of Paraná (IAPAR, www.iapar.br; SIMPEAR, www.simepar.br) and to the National Meteorological Institute (INMET, www.inmet.gov.br) for providing air temperature data used in this study. We thank the undergraduate students, Ana Carolina L. C. de Paula and Giovanna Samesima, from USP/ESALQ, for the support in compiling and data processing. Most of this paper was written when the first author lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, during the winter of 2015.

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  1. Forest Technology, Suzano Paper and Pulp, Itapetininga, Brazil

    Clayton Alcarde Alvares & José Luiz Stape

  2. Agricultural College “Luiz de Queiroz”—USP/ESALQ, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Paulo César Sentelhas

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  1. Clayton Alcarde Alvares
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Alvares, C.A., Sentelhas, P.C. & Stape, J.L. Modeling monthly meteorological and agronomic frost days, based on minimum air temperature, in Center-Southern Brazil. Theor Appl Climatol 134, 177–191 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2267-6

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