scholarly journals A 305-year continuous monthly rainfall series for the Island of Ireland (1711–2016)

Author(s):  
Conor Murphy ◽  
Ciaran Broderick ◽  
Timothy P. Burt ◽  
Mary Curley ◽  
Catriona Duffy ◽  
...  

Abstract. A continuous 305-year (1711–2016) monthly rainfall series is created for the Island of Ireland. Two overlapping data sources are employed: i) a previously unpublished UK Meteorological Office note containing annual rainfall anomalies and corresponding proportional monthly totals based on weather diaries and early observational records for the period 1711–1977 and; ii) a long-term, homogenised monthly rainfall series for the island of Ireland for the period 1850–2016. Using estimates of long-term average precipitation from the homogenised series to merge these sources, the new 305-year record is constructed and insights drawn about notable extremes, climate variability and change. The consistency of the resulting series was evaluated by comparison with independent long-term observations and reconstructions of precipitation, temperature and circulation indices from across the British-Irish Isles. Strong decadal consistency is evident throughout the record amongst all series in spring, summer and autumn. The winter series is probably too dry from the 1740s to the 1780s, but strong consistency with other records strengthens confidence from 1790 onwards. The new Island of Ireland series reveals remarkably wet winters during the 1730s, concurrent with a period of strong westerly airflow, glacial advance throughout Scandinavia and near unprecedented warmth in the Central England Temperature record – all consistent with the strong phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. The driest winter decade in the series coincides with the Laki eruption of 1783–1784. Unusually wet summers occurred in the 1750s, consistent with proxy (tree-ring) reconstructions of summer precipitation in the region. In the annual series, the most recent decade (2006–2015) is found to be the wettest in over 300 years. The new series reveals statistically significant (0.05 level) multi-centennial trends in winter (increasing) and summer (decreasing) seasonal precipitation. However, given uncertainties in the early winter record, the former should be treated as tentative. Importantly, we show that the years 1940 to present – the period with the most widely available digitised records – is unrepresentative of long-term changes in all seasons. Although there are recognized uncertainties in the early record, the derived series offers valuable insights for understanding multi-decadal and centennial rainfall variability in Ireland, and provides a firm basis for benchmarking other long-term records and future reconstructions.

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conor Murphy ◽  
Ciaran Broderick ◽  
Timothy P. Burt ◽  
Mary Curley ◽  
Catriona Duffy ◽  
...  

Abstract. A continuous 305-year (1711–2016) monthly rainfall series (IoI_1711) is created for the Island of Ireland. The post 1850 series draws on an existing quality assured rainfall network for Ireland, while pre-1850 values come from instrumental and documentary series compiled, but not published by the UK Met Office. The series is evaluated by comparison with independent long-term observations and reconstructions of precipitation, temperature and circulation indices from across the British–Irish Isles. Strong decadal consistency of IoI_1711 with other long-term observations is evident throughout the annual, boreal spring and autumn series. Annually, the most recent decade (2006–2015) is found to be the wettest in over 300 years. The winter series is probably too dry between the 1740s and 1780s, but strong consistency with other long-term observations strengthens confidence from 1790 onwards. The IoI_1711 series has remarkably wet winters during the 1730s, concurrent with a period of strong westerly airflow, glacial advance throughout Scandinavia and near unprecedented warmth in the Central England Temperature record – all consistent with a strongly positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Unusually wet summers occurred in the 1750s, consistent with proxy (tree-ring) reconstructions of summer precipitation in the region. Our analysis shows that inter-decadal variability of precipitation is much larger than previously thought, while relationships with key modes of climate variability are time-variant. The IoI_1711 series reveals statistically significant multi-centennial trends in winter (increasing) and summer (decreasing) seasonal precipitation. However, given uncertainties in the early winter record, the former finding should be regarded as tentative. The derived record, one of the longest continuous series in Europe, offers valuable insights for understanding multi-decadal and centennial rainfall variability in Ireland, and provides a firm basis for benchmarking other long-term records and reconstructions of past climate. Correlation of Irish rainfall with other parts of Europe increases the utility of the series for understanding historical climate in further regions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Banerjee ◽  
Ruishan Chen ◽  
Michael E. Meadows ◽  
R.B. Singh ◽  
Suraj Mal ◽  
...  

This paper analyses the spatio-temporal trends and variability in annual, seasonal, and monthly rainfall with corresponding rainy days in Bhilangana river basin, Uttarakhand Himalaya, based on stations and two gridded products. Station-based monthly rainfall and rainy days data were obtained from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the period from 1983 to 2008 and applied, along with two daily rainfall gridded products to establish temporal changes and spatial associations in the study area. Due to the lack of more recent ground station rainfall measurements for the basin, gridded data were then used to establish monthly rainfall spatio-temporal trends for the period 2009 to 2018. The study shows all surface observatories in the catchment experienced an annual decreasing trend in rainfall over the 1983 to 2008 period, averaging 15.75 mm per decade. Analysis of at the monthly and seasonal trend showed reduced rainfall for August and during monsoon season as a whole (10.13 and 11.38 mm per decade, respectively); maximum changes were observed in both monsoon and winter months. Gridded rainfall data were obtained from the Climate Hazard Infrared Group Precipitation Station (CHIRPS) and Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Networks-Climate Data Record (PERSIANN-CDR). By combining the big data analytical potential of Google Earth Engine (GEE), we compare spatial patterns and temporal trends in observational and modelled precipitation and demonstrate that remote sensing products can reliably be used in inaccessible areas where observational data are scarce and/or temporally incomplete. CHIRPS reanalysis data indicate that there are in fact three significantly distinct annual rainfall periods in the basin, viz. phase 1: 1983 to 1997 (relatively high annual rainfall); phase 2: 1998 to 2008 (drought); phase 3: 2009 to 2018 (return to relatively high annual rainfall again). By comparison, PERSIANN-CDR data show reduced annual and winter precipitation, but no significant changes during the monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons from 1983 to 2008. The major conclusions of this study are that rainfall modelled using CHIRPS corresponds well with the observational record in confirming the decreased annual and seasonal rainfall, averaging 10.9 and 7.9 mm per decade respectively between 1983 and 2008, although there is a trend (albeit not statistically significant) to higher rainfall after the marked dry period between 1998 and 2008. Long-term variability in rainfall in the Bhilangana river basin has had critical impacts on the environment arising from water scarcity in this mountainous region.


Author(s):  
Dr. K. Rajendram

Due to recent climate changes and variability the frequency of occurrence and intensity of extreme climatic events such as flood, drought, etc. are increasing significantly in Sri Lanka. The main objectives of the study are to analyze the annual and seasonal rainfall variability in the last 147years from 1871-2018 with particular reference to drought and to assess the occurrence of droughts and its intensity and the impacts of drought on agriculture. For this secondary and primary data have been used. The long-term average annual rainfall of Mannar show the decreasing trend (r2= 0.0158), particularly in recent epochs higher negative anomalies of rainfall were found, as a results frequent occurrence of droughts or dry spells have been occurred. The rainfall anomaly results reveal that, out of 147years of the data period about 47years were experienced as drought and its probability is P=0.320. Accordingly, once in four to five years a drought could be possible. However, in the recent epoch of 1991-2018, higher number of droughts occurred than the any other epochs and its epochal probability is higher (P=0.40) than the normal, which indicate the effect of recent climate change.


MAUSAM ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-36
Author(s):  
RANJAN PHUKAN ◽  
D. SAHA

Rainfall in India has very high temporal and spatial variability. The rainfall variability affects the livelihood and food habits of people from different regions. In this study, the rainfall trends in two stations in the north-eastern state of Tripura, namely Agartala and Kailashahar have been studied for the period 1955-2017. The state experiences an annual mean of more than 2000 mm of rainfall, out of which, about 60% occurs during the monsoon season and about 30% in pre-monsoon. An attempt has been made to analyze the trends in seasonal and annual rainfall, rainy days and heavy rainfall in the two stations, during the same period.Non-parametric Mann-Kendall test has been used to find out the significance of these trends. Both increasing and decreasing trends are observed over the two stations. Increasing trends in rainfall, rainy days and heavy rainfall are found at Agartala during pre-monsoon season and decreasing trends in all other seasons and at annual scale. At Kailashahar, rainfall amount (rainy days & heavy rainfall) is found to be increasing during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons (pre-monsoon season). At annual scale also, rainfall and rainy days show increasing trends at Kailashahar. The parameters are showing decreasing trends during all other seasons at the station. Rainy days over Agartala show a significantly decreasing trend in monsoon, whereas no other trend is found to be significant over both the stations.  


Author(s):  
Ahmed Abubakar Jajere ◽  
Adam Modu Abbas ◽  
Ali Abdu

This study used annual rainfall records from three stations within the North East Arid Zone of Nigeria for the period (1957-2017) to measure the extent of the rainfall recovery by comparing the drought decades and post drought decades rainfall patterns. Monthly rainfall records from Potiskum, Maiduguri and Nguru Stations were used. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were employed in analysing the data. The findings of the study revealed a significant year-to-year variability in rainfall characteristics around 61 years (1957-2017) averages. The variability was large in 1970s up till 1990s, and lower in 1960s and from 2000 to 2018. Decreasing trend in annual rainfall amount was observed during the study period while a stability in onset and cessation dates were observed. The differences between 1957-1986 and 1987-2017 climatic season were found to be statistically insignificant. The study concluded that the reported rainfall recovery from drought is statistically insignificant and the observed long term mean trend revealed a decreasing trend. Therefore, the theory of Sahel rainfall recovery can be better termed as a ‘’break of the series of drought or decline in frequency and magnitude of occurrence of drought’’ The research recommended the continuations with the drought adaptation and mitigation strategies adopted by local population, decisions makers and organizations following the series Sahelian droughts of 1970s and 1980s.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-517
Author(s):  
ADIKANT PRADHAN ◽  
T. CHANDRAKAR ◽  
S.K. NAG ◽  
A. DIXIT ◽  
S.C. MUKHERJEE

Analysis of long-term rainfall data (1986-2018) of Bastar region revealed decreasing trend in total quantum of annual rainfall with varying frequency and distribution. The quantity of winter and summer rains decreased drastically during 2008-18 as compared to earlier two decades (1986-96 and 1997-2007). SW monsoon rain of 2008-18 was more than past two decades, whereas NE monsoon rain changed much in quantity except during 1997-2007. During 1986-96, the pre-monsoon shower was received in April, but later two decades the shower was received in May, which supports for summer ploughing and dry aerobic seeding. The cropping period almost synchronized between 22-43 standard meteorological week (SMW) reaching 93.11 mm per week as maximum rainfall. As the probability of 20 mm rainfall decreased from 75 to 50%, the crop yield got reduced by 30%. The mid-land rice with a probability of 13.47 to 16.07 mm rain per week supported growth phase during 17-21SMW. Whereas, upland rice maturing in 90-100 days could avoid dry spells, if the rice is managed by conservation furrows at the time of sowing. The summer ploughing is preferred with more than 40 mm rain in single day during March to April for mitigating dry spells. On the other hand, preparatory tillage and sowing were performed together in support of ripening niger and horsegram under probability of 75, 50 and 25% rain through crop planning. Maize and small millets reduced yield  significantly when rainfall reached 75% deficit, whereas 25% deficit rain did not affect the yields.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Lins Da Rocha Júnior ◽  
Fabrício Daniel Dos Santos Silva ◽  
Rafaela Lisboa Costa ◽  
Heliofábio Barros Gomes

The main economic activities of the Brazilian Northeast (NEB) are affected by the region's highly variable climate, requiring research into seasonal climate forecasting. In a work we show the results obtained after analysing the relationship between the main modes of NEB rainfall variability and lagged oceanic and atmospheric variable fields, that is, preceding rainfall. Consistent relationships were found between sea surface temperature (SST) in the Equatorial Pacific, Equatorial Atlantic and South Atlantic with NEB rainfall. Rossby wave patterns over the North Pacific that propagate from west to east to the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), Walker Cell and Upper Bolivia have also been identified. In this research, the main objective was to identify the physical basis for the construction of linear regression models capable of predicting seasonal summer rainfall in the NEB, from the relationships between predictor-predictor. The adjusted regression model performed well between simulations and observations based on validation metrics and can be reliably indicated for operational climate forecasting systems. 


MAUSAM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-582
Author(s):  
NAVNEET KAUR ◽  
ABRAR YOUSUF ◽  
M. J. SINGH

The trend analysis of historical rainfall data on monthly, annual and seasonal basis for three locations in lower Shivaliks of Punjab, viz., Patiala-ki-Rao (1982-2015), Ballowal Saunkhri (1987-2015) and Saleran (1984-2017) has been done in the present study using linear regression model, Mann Kendall test and Sen’s slope. Further, the data for annual and seasonal rainfall and rainy days has also been analyzed on quindecennial basis, i.e., for the period of 1986-2000 and 2001-2015. The analysis of data showed that annual rainfall in the region ranged from 1000 to 1150 mm. The trend analysis of the data shows that the monthly rainfall is decreasing at Patiala-ki-Rao and Saleran, however, the trend was significant for May at Patiala-ki-Rao; and in March and November at Saleran. At Ballowal Saunkhri, the decreasing trend is observed from May to October, however, the trend is significant only in August. The decrease in annual and monsoon rainfall is about 13 to 17 mm and 12 to 13 mm per year respectively at three locations in lower Shivaliks of Punjab. The highest annual (1600-2000 mm) and monsoon (1500-1800 mm) rainfall during the entire study period was recorded in the year 1988 at three locations. The decadal analysis of the data shows below normal rainfall during April to October. The analysis of the rainfall and rainy days on monthly, annual and seasonal averages of 15 year basis showed that both rainfall and rainy days have decreased during the 2001-2015 as compared to 1986-2000 during all the seasons of the year.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aichetou Dia Diop ◽  
Malick Wade ◽  
Sinclaire Zebaze ◽  
Abdoulaye Bouya DIOP ◽  
Eric Efon ◽  
...  

Abstract This study examines the inter-annual variability of rainfall and mean Sea Level Pressure (SLP) over west Africa based on analysis of the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) Reanalysis respectively. An interconnection is found in this region, between MSLP anomaly (over Azores and St. Helena High) and monthly mean precipitation during summer (June to September: JJAS). We also found that over northern Senegal (15°N-17°N; 17°W-13°W) the SLP to the north is strong; the wind converges at 200hPa corresponding to the position of the tropical Easterly jet (TEJ); the rotational wind 700hPa (corresponding to the position of the AEJ) coming from the north-east is negative. In this region, the precipitation is related to the SLP to the north with the opposite sign. The empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) of SLP are also presented, including the mean spectrum of precipitation and pressures to the north (15°N-40°N and 50°W-25°W) and south (40°S-10°S and 40°W-0°E). The dominant EOF of Sea Level Pressures north and south of the Atlantic Ocean for GPCP represents about 62.2% and 69.4% of the variance, respectively. The second and third EOFs of the pressure to the north account for 24.0% and 6.5% respectively. The second and third EOFs of the pressure to the south represent 12.5% and 8.9% respectively. Wet years in the northern of Senegal were associated with anomalous low-pressure area over north Atlantic Ocean as opposed to the dry years which exhibited an anomalous high-pressure area in the same region. On the other hand, over south Atlantic, an opposition is noted. The wavelet analysis method is applied to the SLP showings to the north, south and precipitation in our study area. The indices prove to be very consistent, especially during intervals of high variance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Thibault ◽  
Rikke Harlou ◽  
Niels H. Schovsbo ◽  
Lars Stemmerik ◽  
Finn Surlyk

Abstract. The last 8 Myr of the Cretaceous greenhouse interval were characterized by a progressive global cooling with superimposed cool/warm fluctuations. The mechanisms responsible for these climatic fluctuations remain a source of debate that can only be resolved through multi-disciplinary studies and better time constraints. For the first time, we present a record of very high-resolution (ca. 4.5 kyr) sea-surface temperature (SST) changes from the Boreal epicontinental Chalk Sea (Stevns-1 core, Denmark), tied to an astronomical timescale of the late Campanian–Maastrichtian (74 to 66 Ma). Well-preserved bulk stable isotope trends and calcareous nannofossil palaeoecological patterns from the fully cored Stevns-1 borehole show marked changes in SSTs. These variations correlate with deep-water records of climate change from the tropical South Atlantic and Pacific oceans but differ greatly from the climate variations of the North Atlantic. We demonstrate that the onset and end of the early Maastrichtian cooling and of the large negative Campanian–Maastrichtian boundary carbon isotope excursion are coincident in the Chalk Sea. The direct link between SSTs and δ13C variations in the Chalk Sea reassesses long-term glacio-eustasy as the potential driver of carbon isotope and climatic variations in the Maastrichtian.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document