Detecting Changes in Annual and Seasonal Rainfall Patterns for Chennai, India
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 23, Issue 4
Abstract
The northeast and southwest monsoons control the climate of the city of Chennai. Rainfall analysis with an emphasis on drought using the precipitation data of 115 years (1901–2015) was done to quantify the trends. The trend is analyzed annually and seasonally, which revealed a nonsignificant increasing trend in annual rainfall and a significant decreasing trend in winter. The rainfall is irregular and is confined to the latter half of the year, with the maximum contribution occurring in just three months. Several indexes and drought indicators were used for the temporal analysis and for the quantification of the severity of the rainfall and drought events. The precipitation concentration index (PCI) values point to irregular rainfall distribution in almost 84% and a large monthly variability in 38% of the years studied. The magnitudes of the northeast and southwest monsoons are in opposition. The values of the Seasonality Index (SI) signify that most of the rainfall is concentrated in few seasonal months with a prolonged dry season. The rainfall concentration is greatly correlated with the drought pattern. The Rainfall Anomaly Index (RAI) values indicate that out of 115 years, there were five extremely dry and four extremely wet years.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank SRM Institute of Science and Technology for support provided during this study.
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Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 23 • Issue 4 • April 2018
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©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 13, 2017
Accepted: Sep 26, 2017
Published online: Jan 19, 2018
Published in print: Apr 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Jun 19, 2018
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