Investigating the changes in the frequency of low-intensity rainfalls and its relationship with the trend of rainfall and drought in Kurdistan province

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Document Type : Original Article

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10.22125/agmj.2023.398723.1151

Abstract

Changes in the intensity and frequency of rainfall in agricultural areas are one of the important consequences of climate change. An increase in low-intensity rainfalls (less than five mm/day) cannot play an effective role in providing the water requirement of rainfed agriculture and may lead to errors in planning for these areas. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the changes in the trend in the frequency of low-intensity rainfalls and its relationship with the trend of rainfall and drought in Kurdistan province, one of the important rainfed agricultural regions in Iran. For this purpose, the daily rainfall data of 30 years of four synoptic stations - Sanandaj, Bijar, Qorve, and Saqez were applied. After the homogeneity and trending test, the trend of seasonal and annual rainfall and drought parameters were calculated. Then, the rainfall data were separated into two groups with an intensity of less and more than 5 mm/day, and the frequency trend of each group was calculated. The results showed the decreasing and increasing trend of rainfall and drought, respectively, for all stations. The decrease in the intensity of rainfall has played a major role in the downward trend of rainfall. However, the decreasing trend of moderate to heavy rainfalls was observed in spring and winter, which is very important for rainfed agriculture. In addition, the frequency of low-intensity of rainfall has increased in Sanandaj and Qorveh stations. The intensity of drought in both stations was also higher than in others. In other words, the intensity of drought has a direct relationship with increasing the low-intensity rainfall frequency. These results show the importance of a more detailed investigation of rainfall parameters in the efficient planning of rainfed agriculture.

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Journal of Agricultural Meteorology

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 August 2023

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