A Climate Suitability Model for Olive Cultivation in Greece

To effectively adapt the agricultural sector to the threats posed by climate change, it is essential to provide tools to establish a link between climate conditions and crops. The olive is a significant crop in the Mediterranean area. Although highly acclimated, specific climatic and geomorphological conditions are required to achieve sufficient performance. By considering the already recorded impacts of extreme weather on the olive groves, a simple climate-suitability model is implemented to assess the feasibility of olive cultivation in diverse areas of Greece. By incorporating fundamental climatic factors (e.g., temperature, precipitation) and geomorphological elements (e.g., elevation, slope), the model generates a thematic map for Greece, allocating suitability scores corresponding to its suitability for olive farming in any area of interest. The model may be utilized as an adjustable tool for monitoring changes in climate suitability through different time scales.