Figure 3
Climate changes over the last six decades during the beginning of the dry season (BDS; April and May) of the Brazilian Cerrado. (a, b, and d) Mann–Kendall test over 1960–2021 for total rainfall (mm), frequency of rainy days, and reference evapotranspiration (ETo; mm), respectively. The blue, red, and gray colors represent the areas with a significant increasing trend (p < 0.05), significant decreasing trend (p < 0.05), and non-significant trend, respectively. The blue and red color gradient for reference evapotranspiration analyses represents Mann–Kendall’s S-statistics results for all pixels with a significant trend. (c, e–i) Regional changes detected by ERA5 reanalysis for total rainfall (mm/day), relative humidity (%) at 850-hPa, specific humidity (g kg-1) at 850-hPa, horizontal speed of zonal wind (m/s), horizontal speed of meridional wind (m/s) at 850-hPa, and vertical velocity (omega) (Pa/s) at 500-hPa, respectively. In all reanalysis, the dotted areas demonstrated a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the climate normals 1991–2021 and 1960–1990. The gray and green polygons show the official limits of the Brazilian Cerrado in the Mann–Kendall tests and reanalysis, respectively. Maps showing local scale trends were generated using ArcGIS (https://www.arcgis.com). The ETo results map was generated using Google Earth Engine (https://earthengine.google.com/). The ERA5 reanalysis maps were generated using GrADS-Grid Analysis and Display System (http://opengrads.org).
