Long term averages and decadal trends from 20-year time series of the Lecce micrometeorological station (Southern Italy)

Abstract Time series from October 2005 to September 2025 from the ISAC-Lecce Micrometeorological Station database have been analyzed with main attention to the surface energy exchanges and possible decadal trends. Results are presented as 6-months averages, dividing the hydrological year in wet season (October-March) and dry season (April-September). 20-year trends in surface and soil temperature and surface fluxes show a significant increase of all the temperatures and of the sensible heat flux, together with a significant increase in the surface-air temperature difference, and a possible decrease of the latent heat fluxes, with stable precipitations. The surface fluxes are compared with one decade of available radiation measurements and interpreted as a signal of non-equilibrium conditions driven by a radiation trend that affects the surface temperature gap and the local partition of the turbulent fluxes.