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 and Woo-Kyun Lee
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Girma Berhe Adane: School of Water Resource and Environmental Engineering, Haramaya Institute of Technology, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa 138, Ethiopia
Birtukan Abebe Hirpa: School of Water Resource and Environmental Engineering, Haramaya Institute of Technology, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa 138, Ethiopia
Cholho Song: OJEong Resilience Institute (OJERI), Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
Woo-Kyun Lee: OJEong Resilience Institute (OJERI), Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-14

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.

Keywords: rainfall onset; rainfall end; wet spell length; Mann–Kendall trend; Upper Awash (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9221-:d:440702

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