Spatio‐temporal patterns of drought in Morocco

Abstract

Abstract Past climatic moisture anomalies can be reconstructed from climatically sensitive tree‐ring chronologies of Cedrus atlantica in Morocco. A map‐pattern technique was utilized to derive 10 patterns of variability for the period 1845–1974. The individual patterns were examined, in space using geostatistical techniques, and in time using correlation coefficients. The results indicate a clear alternation of favourable‐unfavourable climatic regimes lasting 20–25 years. The spatial extent of the climatic moisture anomalies can be explained by a combination of three factors of the atmospheric circulation related to the Azores High, local cyclogenesis, and north‐eastern perturbations.