למ''ס, שנתון סטטיסטי לישראל 2006 CBS, STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF ISRAEL 2006

INTRODUCTION

TO THE TABLES

GEOPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

מאפיינים גאופיזיים(1)GEOPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

AREA

(Table 1.1)

Theareafiguresrelatetodistricts, sub-districts, naturalregions, andlakes.

Thedistrictsandthesub-districtsweredefinedaccordingtotheofficialadministrativedivisionoftheStateofIsrael. Accordingtothisdivision, Israelhassixdistricts, whicharedividedinto 15 sub-districts.

Asof 1967, theareaofEastJerusalemhasbeenincludedintheJerusalemDistrict. In 1982, theGolansub-districtwasattachedtotheNorthernDistrict.

Following the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan, which was signed on 26 October 1994, territories were exchanged in the Southern Arava and Bet She’an Basin in 1995.

Thischapteralsopresentsdataonthenaturalregionareaswithineachsub-districtaswellasontheareasofthelakes.

Naturalregionsarecontinuousareas, asuniformaspossible, bothwithregardtophysicalstructure, climateandland, aswellastodemographic, economicandsocialcharacteristicsofthepopulation.

Anaturalregioncanbepartofonesub-districtor, insomecases, anentiresub-district (seetheMapofIsrael - Districts, Sub-districtsandNaturalRegions, 2005).

Inthe 1995 Census, the division ofnaturalregionswasupdatedandtheirnumberincreasedfrom 45 (inthe 1983 Census) to 50.

After the 1995 Census of Population and Housing, the method of measuring areas was changed, and it is now performed in a computerized method by the Computerized Geographic Information System (GIS) of the CBS.

The areas of districts and Sub-districts were revised according to boundary adjustments made by the Ministry of the Interior (published in June 2004).

LAND USE

(Table 1.2)

DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS

Land use: ways in which man takes advantage of the land for activities such as: construction, agriculture, forestation, industry, etc. Land use relates to the situation today, as opposed to land allocation relating to future use.

The information on land use is national and continuous for all the land in the country. Information can be produced according to various geographic categories, such as Local Authorities, Regional Councils and natural regions.

Land use can be divided into two main types: constructed area and open area.

Constructed area is cross-sectioned according to various functions: housing, education, health and welfare, publicservices, culture and leisure, commercial, industry and infrastructure, transportation and agricultural buildings.

Open area is cross-sectioned according to the following types: public open area, forests, agriculture and other open areas.

SOURCE OF DATA: The information is based on processing and integration of a variety of administrative sources that were received from ministries, non-government organizations and private bodies.

The database used for the information on land use was prepared through the Geographic Information System (GIS) of the CBS.

CLIMATE

(Tables 1.3-1.6)

Israel’sclimatehasuniquecharacteristics.

Israel’sgeographiclocation, between 290-330northoftheequator, makesitasubtropicalregion, whichisatransitionalareabetweenthetemperatezoneandthearidzone. Israel, therefore, isona “climaticcrossroads”: itssouthernandeasternareasarecharacterizedbyanaridclimate, whiletherestofitsareasarecharacterizedbyaMediterraneanclimate. Oneofthemaincharacteristicsofthiskindofclimaticformationisthehighvariabilityinquantitiesofprecipitation from year to year and between different areas. The summer is hot with hardly any rain, and the winter is cool and rainy.

TherainyseasoninIsraelusuallybeginsinOctoberandendsinMayofthenextyear. Precipitationdataarepresentedforrainyears, i.e., fromAugusttoJulyofthenextyear.

Dataonaverageprecipitationhavebeenstandardizedandadjustedtothenormalstandardperiodfrom 1971 to 2000.

Themulti-annualaveragesofnumberofraindaysrelatestotheyears 1971-2000.

Presentedarethenumberofraindayswithquantitiesofmorethan 1 mm.

Relativehumidity -theratio (inpercentages) ofvapourintheair, andtheamounttheaircancontaininastateofsaturationatthesametemperature.

Temperaturedataandrelativehumidityarepresentedbycalendaryears (JanuarytoDecember). Multi-annualaveragesoftemperatureandrelativehumidityrefertotheperiodfrom 1981 to 2000, exceptHaifa (1988-2000).

Thedivisionintoregionsinthetables, hasbeenadaptedtothedivisionintogeoclimaticregionsbytheMeteorologicalService.

The Sede Dov station was replaced by the following stations: The Tel Aviv Kiryat Shaul station, which provides data on precipitation and temperature; and the Tel Aviv western coast station, which provides data on relative humidity.

The Haifa Bay station provides data on relative humidity and temperature, and the Haifa Port station provides data on precipitation.

ClimatedataarereceivedfromtheMeteorologicalServiceinBetDagan.

NAMEOFSTATION, GEOGRAPHICALLOCATIONANDRELATIVEALTITUDE

COASTALREGION

Haifa, Technion: 35001’E; 32046’N; 230 m.

Haifa, Bay: 35001’E; 32047’N; 5 m.

Haifa, Port. 35000’E; 32049’N; 5 m.

TelAviv, Western Coast: 34045’E; 32003’N; 5 m.

TelAviv, Kiryat Shaul: 34049’E; 32007’N; 40 m.

BetDagan, meteorologicalstation: 34048’E; 32000’N; 30 m.

Negba: 34040’E; 31039’N; 90 m.

HILLREGION

HarKena’an: 35030’E; 32058’N; 934 m.

Gal’ed (EvenYizhaq) 35004’E; 32033’N; 180 m.

Jerusalem, Center: 35013’E; 31046’N; 815 m.

Jerusalem, Giv’at Ram: 35011’E; 31046’N; 765 m.

NORTHERN VALLEYS

KefarBlum: 35036’E; 33010’N; 75 m.

KefarYehoshua: 35009’E; 32041’N; 50 m.

NEGEVREGION

Be’erSheva, NegevInstitute: 34048’E; 31015’N; 280 m.

Be’erSheva, West: 34043’E; 31016’N; 195 m.

MizpeRamon: 34047’E; 30037’N; 837 m.

JORDANRIFTANDARAVA

SedeEliyyahu: 35031’E; 32026’N; -190 m.

Sedom: 35023’E; 31001’N; -390 m.

Elat: 34057’E; 29033’N; 12 m.

AIR

Emissionsofairpollutantsfromfuelcombustionandconcentrationsofairpollutants - seeChapter 27 - Environment.

RADIATION AND SUNSHINE

(Table 1.7)

DEFINITIONS

Globalradiation:short-waveradiationofthesun, bothdirectanddispersed, onahorizontalplanefromaspatialangleof 2radians.

Durationofsunshine:theamountoftimethesunshinesinagivenlocation.

SOURCEOFDATA

DatawereobtainedfromtheMeteorologicalService.

Thetablepresentsdataonglobalradiationat 4 stationsoutof 20 (thenumberofstationsvaries): Haifa (Technion), BetDagan, Jerusalem (Giv’atRam) andBe’erSheva (NegevInstitute). Thesestationsstartedcollectingdatain 1994, 1965, 1990 and 1982 respectively.

Inaddition, thetablepresentsdataondurationofsunshineobtainedfromtwostations: BetDaganandSedom.

Forgeographicallocationandheightabovesealevelofstations, seethesectionon “Climate” above.

LIMITATIONSOFTHEDATA

  1. Asof 1997, themonthlyaveragesfordurationofsunshinehavebeencalculatedinBetDaganonthebasisofdailydataratherthanhourlydata.
  2. Themonthlymulti-yearaverageofsunshineiscalculatedattheMeteorologicalServiceonceeverydecade. Therefore, thelatestdataareuntil 2000.

WATER

Waterproductionandconsumption, seeChapter 21 - EnergyandWater.

Qualityofwateratthebeachesandstreams, sewageandeffluents, seeChapter 27 - Environment.

GROUND WATER

(Table 1.8)

WATER LEVEL IN AQUIFERS AND SALINITY

TheaquifersinIsraelare: CoastalAquifer, MountainAquifer, WesternGalileeAquifer, CarmelAquifer, SeaofGalileeAquifer, EasternHillAquifer, andNegevandAravaAquifers. Thewaterleveloftheaquiferschangesaccordingto, amongothers, run-offenteringitandpumpingactivitiescarriedout.

PRESENTATIONOFDATA

ThedatapresentedinthetablefocusonthetwomainsourcesofutilizinggroundwaterinIsrael: the MountainAquiferandCoastal Aquifer.

Thetablepresentsspecificdataonalimitednumberofdrillings (outofhundreds) inaccordancewiththerecommendationsoftheHydrologicalService.

WaterlevelvalueswerepublishedinrelationtoMeanSeaLevelforthemonthsof: April (Spring), andOctober (Fall), toindicatemaximalandminimalwaterlevels, respectively.

Inobservationdrillings, asinexploratorydrills, waterisnotpumped. Therefore, thewaterlevelsmeasuredaremorereliablethanthosederivedfromactivedrillings.

Water level values presented in the table are the average measurements in a month.

Salinity values presented in the table are the average measurements taken at different points several times a year.

DEFINITIONSANDEXPLANATIONS

MountainAquifer: ThebasinextendsfromtheridgesoftheJudeaandSamariahillstotheeastandreachestheMediterraneancoastinthewest. Inthenorth, theaquiferisborderedbythesouthernslopesoftheCarmelandTanninimStream. Inthesouth, itisborderedbytheBe’erShevaValley.ThemainflowofwateratthisaquiferisfromtheRoshHaAyinandTanninimStreamsprings.

CoastalAquifer: TheaquiferspansfromBinyaminainthenorthtoNirAminthesouth.

Intheeast, theaquiferisborderedbythefoothillsofthemountainsandtheplainofthecentralmountainridgeandinthewest, bytheMediterranean.

Ithasagoodcollectioncapacity, anditisfilledwithrainfall, fromartificialrechargingoffloodwaterandfromeffluentsatselectedsites.

Height of drilling:Height of drilling point in meters above sea level.

Water level: Height of the water level in drilling, in meters above sea level.

SOURCEOFTHEDATA

ThedatawereobtainedfromtheHydrologicalService.

LIMITATIONSOFTHEDATA

  1. Ifthereisnowayofmeasuringthewaterlevelduringacertainmonth, therearemethodsofinterpolationandimputationofdatafromneighbouringdrillings. Inaddition, ahydrologicalmodelisusedtocompletethedata. (Thisadjustmentiscarriedoutinonlyasmallpercentageofallmeasurements).

SURFACE WATER

(Table 1.9)

WaterLeveloftheSeaofGalileeandtheDeadSeaandWaterSalinityintheSeaofGalilee

TheSeaofGalileeservesasthelargestsurfacewaterreservoirinIsrael. Informationonitswaterlevelisthereforeessentialasitindicatesthesituationofthewaterreservesofthecountry.

DiversionofwatertotheNationalWaterCarrierhasastrongimpactonthewaterleveloftheDeadSea.

InformationonthewaterleveloftheSeaofGalileeandtheDeadSeainthesetimeseriesmayprovideanindicationofshort-termaswellaslong-termproblems. Theseseriesconstituteabasisforunderstandingthephysicalprocessesandenvironmentalchangesresultingfromhumaninterventionintheecosystem. Inaddition, thetimeseriesprovideimportantinformationonnaturalfluctuationsofwater. ThereisnoIsraelistandardyetforthequalityoftheSeaofGalileeandDeadSeawater.

PRESENTATIONOFDATA

Allthewaterlevelvaluesappearwithaminussign, sincetheheightofSeaofGalileeandtheDeadSeaarebelowsealevel.

UsingtherecommendationsoftheHydrologicalService,MayandNovembermeasurementsforSeaofGalileearepublishedaswellasMayandDecembermeasurementsfortheDeadSea.

DataoftheSpringmonths (April, May) indicatethemaximumwaterlevelforagivenyear, whereasdataoftheFallmonths (November, December) indicatetheminimalwaterlevel. Thevaluepresentedinthetableistheresultofthefirstmeasurementofthatmonth.

Asof 1969, allsalinitytestshavebeencarriedoutatonesamplingpointinthecenteroftheSeaofGalilee, whichconstitutesarepresentativepointoftheaveragesalinityoftheSeaofGalilee.

DEFINITIONSANDEXPLANATIONS

Watersalinity:theparameterwhichconstitutesthemainelementindeterminingpossibleusesofwater. Acceptedpracticeistodeterminethesalinitybytheconcentrationofchloridesinthewater (Cl), measuredbymilligramsofchloridesperliterofwater (mg/l). Accordingtoitssalinity, thequalityofwaterisdeterminedbythefollowingcategories:

Cl (mg/liter) / TypeofWater
Cl600 / Freshwater
400<Cl4,000
400Cl<600 / Brackishwater
“Grey” area
Cl>4,000 / Salinewater

SOURCEOFTHEDATAANDMETHODSOFCOMPUTATION

DataonthewaterlevelintheSeaofGalileeandtheDeadSeawereobtainedfromtheHydrologicalService. DataonthesalinityoftheSeaofGalileewereobtainedfromtheHydrologicalServicefortheyears 1960-1968 and 1992-2003, andfromtheKinneretLimnologicalLaboratory (Nishrietal.) fortheyears 1969-1991.

Thestatisticalparametersofsalinityarecalculatedoutofaseriesofobservations.

An observation is the weighted average of salinity levels measured at a number of permanent depths in the Sea of Galilee.

LIMITATIONSOFTHEDATA

  1. Ifnomeasurementwastakenduringacertainmonth, hydrologistsattheHydrologicalServiceuse “nearestneighbour” imputationmethodsorotheracceptedmodelstofillinthemissingdata. Thesemodelstakeintoaccountseasonalandhydrologicalinformationthathasaccumulatedovertheyears.
  2. In the absence of a salinity measurement in one of the permanent depths from which an observation is calculated during the years 1969-1991, the CBS uses an imputation of a datum, which is the average of measurements at the same depth and in the same month for 3 consecutive years. In certain instances, the datum of the measurement was imputed on the same date.

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