The weather reanalysis datasets are very advantageous data types worldwide that fill the gaps of missed measuring data and are alternatives that compensate for the scarcity of observed climate data. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of horizontal distance, altitude, and climatic regions compared to sea level on NASA POWER reanalysis data for daily temperature variables, relative humidity, and wind speed observed in meteorology stations in the Mediterranean and Continental regions of Turkey. For this purpose, three different meteorology stations (Antalya airport, Elmalı, Teffenni) from the Mediterranean region with different distances and elevations compared to sea level and one station (Ankara) far from the Mediterranean region with continental climate were selected. The statistical approach used to compare observed and estimated values in this study was determination coefficient (R2), Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE), and Mean Bias Error (MBE). The results showed a high relation between the POWER reanalysis dataset and observed data for all parameters except wind speed. For daily maximum, minimum and mean temperature, the R2 and NSE achieved higher than 0.91 and 0.88 respectively, while the mean bias error MBE ranged between -3 °C up to +2 °C and the RMSE was less than 4 °C in all stations. Additionally, POWER estimated data correlation accuracy for temperature variables increased toward higher altitudes in the study area. Similarly, this performance was followed by relative humidity, increasing relation accuracy toward higher elevated regions. The R2 was higher than 0.69 in higher altitudes and less than 0.4 in lower elevations. The MBE for relative humidity ranges -2% in Antalya to +9% in Ankara, and the RMSE attained less than 13.81% in all regions. The POWER daily wind speed did not show relation with observed data without adjusting for elevation and seasonal bias correction. Overall, it was concluded that the NASA POWER dataset could predict temperature and relative humidity over study area and give a promising result if used in research, water, and agricultural decision-making where observation data are not available.

In the Mediterranean region, the expansion of greenhouse horticulture has enabled the year-round supply of fresh vegetables. Compared to open field horticulture, this farming method can generate higher returns for farmers. However, it is often associated with significant environmental pressures. This research aims to pinpoint important opportunities for improvement of the environmental and economic performance of greenhouse farming in the Mediterranean region by showing the life cycle’s environmental and economic impacts and by highlighting life cycle hotspots. This is achieved through the combined application of life cycle assessment and life cycle costing to four case studies (commercial greenhouses) spanning the Mediterranean Basin (Italy, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey). The case study findings highlight the following environmental hotspots and related impacts: (i) fertigation management can generate up to 11,283 m³/ha/year of water use impact; (ii) fertilizer leaching can generate up to 27 kg of N eq marine eutrophication impact; and (iii) crop protection treatments can generate up to 130,037 kg 1,4-DCB of terrestrial ecotoxicity impact. The large use of plastic materials (greenhouse and fertigation infrastructures) is an additional critical aspect due to manufacturing and disposal, contributing to eutrophication impact categories. Economic hotspots are related to greenhouse management (up to 35% total costs of production) and hired labor (up to 40% total costs of production). The lessons learnt from these case studies offer valuable insights into the sustainability challenges of greenhouse horticulture across the Mediterranean region. The hotspot analysis points to the need for targeted interventions to mitigate the most critical impacts while ensuring economic viability. This study enriches scientific understanding by examining different production and socioeconomic contexts, offering crucial insights for the advancement of sustainable practices in greenhouse agriculture such as the use of decision support systems to optimize input use.

Plant tolerance to salinity stress is vital for irrigation scheduling, decision-making, planning and operation, and water resource management. This study is aimed to investigate the effects of irrigation water salinity on water use, growth, physiology, and yield parameters of drip-irrigated tomatoes in two different growing seasons. In addition to control (0.7 dS m⁻¹), three irrigation water salinity levels: 2.5 (low), 5.0 (moderate), and 7.5 (high) dS m⁻¹ were used. In both seasons, autumn 2021 and spring 2022, increased water salinities caused an increase in soil salinity, while a decrease in seasonal crop evapotranspiration. Plant heights did not show significant differences under different salinity levels in autumn 2021, while a meaningful difference among treatments was found in spring 2022. Marketable and total tomato yields, and the leaf area index showed significant decreases under increased salinities in both seasons. Stomatal conductance was not affected by salinity levels. The salt tolerance models for marketable and total fruit yields showed a low threshold and slope value in autumn 2021, contrasting with a high threshold and slope value determined in spring 2022. The results suggest that the salinity slope value should be considered, as well as the salinity threshold value, for decision making in tomato production at different growing seasons.

Ülkemizde ve dünyada küresel ısınmaya bağlı iklim değişikliğinin bir sonucu olarak ortaya çıkan kuraklık, belli bir dönem içerisinde yağış miktarlarının uzun yıllık ortalama değerlerin altına düşmesiyle yeryüzü üzerinde yaşayan tüm canlıları olumsuz etkilemektedir. Kuraklığın şiddetini, alansal ve zamansal özelliklerini tanımlamak için birçok kuraklık indeksi geliştirilmiştir. Bu çalışmada kuraklığın şiddetini belirlemede kullanılan yöntemlerden biri olan Standartlaştırılmış Yağış İndeksi (SPI) yöntemi ile Antalya ili sınırları içerisinde bulunan Alanya, Antalya, Demre, Elmalı, Finike, Gazipaşa, Korkuteli ve Manavgat meteoroloji istasyonlarına ait 1970-2014 yılları arasındaki uzun süreli yağış verileri kullanılarak meteorolojik kuraklık analizi yapılmıştır. Uzun süreli yağış değerlerinin SPI yönteminin sınıflandırma değerlerine göre 3-, 6-, 12- ve 24- aylık dönemlerde incelendiğinde, SPI değerlerinde bir azalma olmadığı, SPI değerleri eğiliminin normale yakın kurak (0.99 ~ -0.99) arasında yer aldığı hesaplanmıştır. Mevsimsel olarak değerlendirilme yapıldığında çalışma bölgesi nde kuraklığın yaz aylarında görülebildiği gibi kış aylarında da görüldüğü belirlenmiştir.