Abstract
An analysis is made to determine the sensitivity of theoretical deductions of the diurnal temperature range to changes in 1) parameterization constants, 2) atmospheric variables, and 3) surface-state variables. It is found, at four locations of differing latitude, that the diurnal temperature range deduced from the model is relatively insensitive to changes in the parameterization constants, a necessary condition for the validity of the model. Of the two remaining groups of variables, it is found that changes in cloud cover and in the surface-state variables albedo and conductive capacity induce the largest temperature range changes on a percentage basis. The implications of these results for the effects of vegetation changes are discussed, with special reference to the Sinai-Negev-Nile region.
