Climate indices and their variabilities in the state of Pernambuco – Brazil

The climatic indices represent part of the characterization of a given region, being obtained through the water balance and the potential evapotranspiration. The objective is to study the fluctuations and perform the analysis and mapping of the indices of humidity, water and aridity, precipitation and average annual air temperature for the State of Pernambuco using the Climatological Water Balance technique according to the [35]. The data used were average monthly precipitation and monthly averages of air temperatures from 1962 to 2015, these data were estimated using the software, Estima_T, while the precipitation data were acquired from the Agencia Pernambucana de Água e Clima. Temperature reductions occurred in accordance with the displacement of the rainy season and the actions and/or contributions of regional and local effects. Elevation and latitude are the physiographic variables that best explain the monthly and annual temperature variation in the study area.