Rainfall characterization and trend analysis of wet spell length across varied landscapes of the upper awash river basin, ethiopia

Girma Berhe Adane; Birtukan Abebe Hirpa; Cholho Song; Woo Kyun Lee

doi:10.3390/su12219221

Rainfall characterization and trend analysis of wet spell length across varied landscapes of the upper awash river basin, ethiopia

Girma Berhe Adane, Birtukan Abebe Hirpa, Cholho Song, Woo Kyun Lee

Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Understanding the timing and variability of rainfall is crucial for the effective management of water resources in river basins dominated by rainfed agricultural practices. Our study aimed to characterize rainfall and analyze the trends in the length of wet spells (LWS) in the Upper Awash River Basin—one of the most water-stressed river basins in Ethiopia. We applied statistical descriptors and a Mann–Kendall (MK) test to determine the onset, end, and LWS for the small (Belg) and main (Kiremt) rainy seasons across different landscapes of the basin. We observed highly stable rainfall onsets in all stations during both seasons. However, unlike the Kiremt season, the LWS in the Belg season was too short and unreliable for rainfed agriculture. Based on the MK test, an increasing monotonic trend in LWS during the Kiremt season was detected only in the mountainous landscape of the basin. In contrast, we observed no trends in the remaining stations in the Upper Valley region of the basin, despite the linear regressions inferring an upward or downward pattern. Our findings provide accurate climatological information for the effective development of rainwater management strategies in the Upper Awash River Basin.

Original language	English
Article number	9221
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Number of pages	14
Journal	Sustainability (Switzerland)
Volume	12
Issue number	21
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219221
Publication status	Published - 2020 Nov 1

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support by the OJEong Resilience Institute (OJERI) at Korea University, the National Meteorological Agency (NMA) of Ethiopia, Debrezeit Agricultural Research Center, Wonji Sugar Factory, Metehara Sugar Factory, and Melkassa Agricultural Research Center for providing data for this research. In addition, we thank Fistume Yemenu and Ayalew Mamo for their constructive discussions.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

Mann–Kendall trend
Rainfall end
Rainfall onset
Upper Awash
Wet spell length

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geography, Planning and Development
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.3390/su12219221

Cite this

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abstract = "Understanding the timing and variability of rainfall is crucial for the effective management of water resources in river basins dominated by rainfed agricultural practices. Our study aimed to characterize rainfall and analyze the trends in the length of wet spells (LWS) in the Upper Awash River Basin—one of the most water-stressed river basins in Ethiopia. We applied statistical descriptors and a Mann–Kendall (MK) test to determine the onset, end, and LWS for the small (Belg) and main (Kiremt) rainy seasons across different landscapes of the basin. We observed highly stable rainfall onsets in all stations during both seasons. However, unlike the Kiremt season, the LWS in the Belg season was too short and unreliable for rainfed agriculture. Based on the MK test, an increasing monotonic trend in LWS during the Kiremt season was detected only in the mountainous landscape of the basin. In contrast, we observed no trends in the remaining stations in the Upper Valley region of the basin, despite the linear regressions inferring an upward or downward pattern. Our findings provide accurate climatological information for the effective development of rainwater management strategies in the Upper Awash River Basin.",

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author = "Adane, {Girma Berhe} and Hirpa, {Birtukan Abebe} and Cholho Song and Lee, {Woo Kyun}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support by the OJEong Resilience Institute (OJERI) at Korea University, the National Meteorological Agency (NMA) of Ethiopia, Debrezeit Agricultural Research Center, Wonji Sugar Factory, Metehara Sugar Factory, and Melkassa Agricultural Research Center for providing data for this research. In addition, we thank Fistume Yemenu and Ayalew Mamo for their constructive discussions. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

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N2 - Understanding the timing and variability of rainfall is crucial for the effective management of water resources in river basins dominated by rainfed agricultural practices. Our study aimed to characterize rainfall and analyze the trends in the length of wet spells (LWS) in the Upper Awash River Basin—one of the most water-stressed river basins in Ethiopia. We applied statistical descriptors and a Mann–Kendall (MK) test to determine the onset, end, and LWS for the small (Belg) and main (Kiremt) rainy seasons across different landscapes of the basin. We observed highly stable rainfall onsets in all stations during both seasons. However, unlike the Kiremt season, the LWS in the Belg season was too short and unreliable for rainfed agriculture. Based on the MK test, an increasing monotonic trend in LWS during the Kiremt season was detected only in the mountainous landscape of the basin. In contrast, we observed no trends in the remaining stations in the Upper Valley region of the basin, despite the linear regressions inferring an upward or downward pattern. Our findings provide accurate climatological information for the effective development of rainwater management strategies in the Upper Awash River Basin.

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Rainfall characterization and trend analysis of wet spell length across varied landscapes of the upper awash river basin, ethiopia

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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