Long-Term Climate Variability and Drought Characteristics in Tropical Region of India
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 4
Abstract
This work reports climate change signals and long-term trend analysis of climate variables, meteorological drought, and extreme climate indexes over the tropical state of Kerala in India. The trend analysis reveals statistically significant decrease of annual and southwest monsoon rainfall (as much as 63 mm and 55 mm per decade, respectively). A decrease in number of annual rainy days (up to ) is also reported. Temperature trend analysis indicates an increasing trend with as high as . The spatio-temporal variation of extreme climate indexes across Kerala shows a decreasing trend of extreme precipitation indexes and an increasing trend of extreme temperature indexes. R95 and R95p decreased in northern and southern Kerala whereas R5 index increased in central and southern regions. Warm days have significantly increased whereas cold days exhibit a decreasing trend across the state. The increase in warmer nights is statistically significant whereas colder nights are decreasing in central and southern regions. Meteorological drought using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) reveals increasing occurrence of droughts in Kerala with higher frequencies over southern and central Kerala.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code used during the study were provided by a third party. Direct requests for these data may be made to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune.
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Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 26 • Issue 4 • April 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jun 29, 2020
Accepted: Nov 30, 2020
Published online: Jan 29, 2021
Published in print: Apr 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jun 29, 2021
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