International E-publication: Publish Projects, Dissertation, Theses, Books, Souvenir, Conference Proceeding with ISBN.  International E-Bulletin: Information/News regarding: Academics and Research

Spatial and temporal variability of rainfall distribution in hilly region of Nepal

Author Affiliations

  • 1Forest Research Institute (deemed to be) University, Dehradun, India
  • 2Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India

Int. Res. J. Environment Sci., Volume 7, Issue (11), Pages 15-21, November,22 (2018)

Abstract

The study provides information about the nature of rainfall regimes across hilly regions of Nepal. Hilly areas of Nepal are always vulnerable to frequent and more climate induced hazards, i.e., erratic rainfall, landslide erosion, flashflood, drought etc. In this study, 30 years rainfall data (from 1987 to 2016) from 17 field stations were analyzed using statistical parameters like Mean, Median, Standard Deviation, Coefficient of Skewness and Coefficient of Variation). Statistical parameters were used to check the rainfall variability. The study parameters indicated that rainfall varied significantly at all the stations. The total annual average rainfall in all station was 1818.093mm. The average maximum and minimum annual rainfall varied from 2233.13mm (during 1999) to 1543.47 mm (during 1992) respectively. Similarly, the highest and lowest average rainfall varied from 3015.04mm to 832.78mm respectively in Pansayakhola and Nepalthok station. The study area of Hill region receives 80.87% highest annual average in the monsoon rainfall and lowest in the winter rainfall (3.29%). Thus analysis of rainfall data helps in exploring problems related to rainfall that may be high intensity, low intensity, erratic or no rainfall. At the same time analysis of such historical rainfall data in hilly areas helps in understanding issues related to drought, landslides and floods. These estimates predict possible pathways and help policy makers in understanding the variability of rainfall distribution across hilly region which is important for future planning and management strategies.

References

  1. Roy M. (2013)., Times series and impacts analysis of rainfall in north-eastern part in Bangladesh., International Journal of Scientific and Research, 3(8), 1-6.
  2. Herath S. and Ratnayake U. (2004)., Monitoring rainfall trends to predict adverse impacts—a case study from Sri Lanka (1964–1993)., Global Environmental Change, 14, 71-79.
  3. Barua S., Muttil N., Ng A.W.M. and Perera B.J.C. (2013)., Rainfall trend and its implications for water resource management within the Yarra River catchment, Australia., Hydrological Processes, 27(12), 1727-1738.
  4. Agilan V. and Umamahesh N.V. (2017)., What are the best covariates for developing non-stationary rainfall intensity-duration-frequency relationship?, Advances in Water Resources, 101, 11-22.
  5. Pendergrass A.G. and Hartmann D.L. (2014)., Changes in the distribution of rain frequency and intensity in response to global warming., Journal of climate, 27(22), 8372-8383.
  6. Allen M.R. and Ingram W.J. (2002)., Constraints on future changes in climate and the hydrologic cycle., Nature, 419(6903), 224-232.
  7. Emori S., Hasegawam A., Suzuki T. and Dairaku K. (2005)., Validation, parameterization dependence, and future projection of daily precipitation simulated with a high-resolution atmospheric GCM., Geophysical Research letters, 32, 1-4.
  8. Tramblay Y., Neppel L., Carreau J. and Sanchez-Gomez E. (2012)., Extreme value modelling of daily areal rainfall over Mediterranean catchments in a changing climate., Hydrological Processes, 26(25), 3934-3944.
  9. Trenberth K.E., Dai A., Rasmussen R.M. and Parsons D.B. (2003)., The changing character of precipitation., American Meteorology Society, 84, 1205-1217.
  10. Becker S., Gemmer M. and Jiang T. (2006)., Spatiotemporal analysis of precipitation trends in the Yangtze River catchment., Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 20(6), 435-444.
  11. Burn D.H. and Elnur M.A.H. (2002)., Detection of hydrologic trends and variability., Journal of Hydrology, 255(1-4), 107-122.
  12. Kahya E. and Kalayci S. (2004)., Trend analysis of streamflow in Turkey., Journal of Hydrology, 289, 128-144.
  13. Xu Z.X., Li J.Y. and Liu C.M. (2007)., Long‐term trend analysis for major climate variables in the Yellow River basin., Hydrological Processes: An International Journal, 21(14), 1935-1948.
  14. Subramanya K. (2008)., Engineering Hydorology., 3rd Edition. Tata McGraw-Hill publishing Company limited New Delhi.
  15. Singh V.P., Yadav S. and Yadava R.N. (2018)., Climate Change Impacts., Springer Nature, 317, ISBN 978-981-10-5714-4.
  16. Kansakar S.R., Hannah D.M., Gerrard J. and Rees G. (2004)., Spatial pattern in the precipitation regime in Nepal., Int. J. Climatol., 24, 1645-1659.
  17. Department of Hydrology and Meterology (DHM)., Government of Nepal, Ministry of energy, water resources and irrigation., Available online: www.hydrology.gov.np (Accessed on 22 July 2018).
  18. Sivakumar M., Gommes R. and Baier W. (2000)., Agrometeorology and sustainable agriculture., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 103(1-2), 11-26.
  19. Folland C.K., Karl T.R., Nicholls N., Nyenzi B.S., Parker D.E. and Vinnikov K.Y. (1992)., Observed climate variability and change’, in Climate Change 1992: The Supplementary Report to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Scientific Assessment, , cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 135-170.
  20. Srikanthan R. and Stewart B.J. (1991)., Analysis of Australian rainfall data with respect to climate variability and change., Aust. Mefeorol. Mag., 39, 11-20.
  21. Panthi J., Dahal P., Shrestha M.L., Aryal Suman, Krakauer Nir Y., Pradhanang S.M., Lakhankar T., Jha A.K., Sharma M. and Karki R. (2015)., Spatial and Temporal Variability of Rainfall in the Gandaki River Basin of Nepal Himalaya., Climate, 3(1), 210-226.
  22. Shrestha M.L. (2000)., Interannual variation of summer monsoon rainfall over Nepal and its relation to southern oscillation index., Meteorol. Atmos. Phys., 75, 21-28.
  23. Dore M.H. (2005)., Climate change and changes in global precipitation patterns. What do we know?, Environment International, 31, 1167-1181.
  24. Dhakal S. (2013)., Flood hazard in Nepal and new approach of risk reduction., Int. J. Landslide Environ.,1, 13-14.
  25. Gerrard J. and Gardner R.A.M. (2000)., Relationships between rainfall and landsliding in the Middle Hills, Nepal., Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift, 54, 74-81.
  26. Pokhrel K.P. (2013)., Chure forestry conservation and management plan: A case study of Arghakhanchi District, Nepal., J. Geogr. Reg. Plan., 6, 172-183.
  27. Cavanaugh N.R., Gershunov A., Panorska A.K. and Kozubowski T.J. (2015)., The probability distribution of intense daily precipitation., Geophysical Research Letters, 42(5), 1560-1567.
  28. Xu L., Zhou H., Du L., Yao H. and Wang H. (2015)., Precipitation trends and variability from 1950 to 2000 in arid lands of Central Asia., Journal of Arid Land, 7(4), 514-526.
  29. Rosenberg E.A., Keys P.W., Booth D.B., Hartley D., Burkey J., Steinemann A.C. and Lettenmaier D.P. (2010)., Precipitation extremes and the impacts of climate change on storm water infrastructure in Washington State., Clim. Change, 102, 319-349.
  30. Shrestha R.M. and Sthapit A.B. (2015)., Temporal Variation of Rainfall in the Bagmati River Basin, Nepal., Nepal Journal of Science and Technology, 16(1), 31-40.
  31. Karpouzos D.K., Kavalieratou S. and Babajimopoulos C. (2010)., Trend analysis of precipitation data in pieria region (Greece)., Eur. Water, 30, 31-40.