Generation of the Eastern Mediterranean climate maps by geostatistical method and assessment of hydroclimatological trends

In the study, it is aimed to generate climate maps of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, detect extreme events in the context of precipitation height, and evaluate climate trends. Time series of 48 meteorological observation stations in the study area were used as material. Erinç Climate Classification was used to find climate classes. Ordinary Kriging interpolation technique was used to generate maps. Standardized Precipitation Index was used to detect extreme events. Mann-Kendall Trend Test, Sen's Slope Estimator, and Innovative Trend Simulation were used to find climate trends. According to the results, Erinç Climate Classification and Aydeniz Climate Classification give similar results for long-term averages. Precipitation efficiencies in April and October are numerically close to those on an annual basis. The chain of mountains has a great impact on the climate classes. The stations in the study area have humid, semi-humid, semi-dry, and nearly dry climate classes on an annual basis. In terms of area, the largest extreme drought occurred in 1972, 1973, and 1974; the largest extreme wetness occurred in 1968 and 1969. It was observed that there was a significant difference between the duration of the longest dry period and the second-longest dry period at many stations. Total annual precipitation in 2070 will be 14–32% less than the current average. In 2070, the annual average temperature will be 0.4–2.8 °C higher than the current average.