Change Detection in Climate Data over the Iberian Peninsula

This paper addresses the space-time change detection problem in climate data over the Iberian Peninsula using a 50 years dataset. The data were analyzed concerning the temporal and geographical information, using the following methodology: information about space-time drifts in climate data was obtained by applying a change detection algorithm on all the temporal data available for each physical location considered in this study; the performance and the robustness of this algorithm were then assessed by the McNemar nonparametric statistical test on cluster structures; geographical correlations were inferred using visualization tools and graphical representations of data. Most of the space-temporal drifts detected by the algorithm were confirmed by the results of the McNemar test and are in accordance with visual and graphical representations, supporting the advantage of using inter-disciplinary methods. This analysis also shows that there are locations which do not reveal any change along all the observed years.