Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Precipitation and Its Extremities in Seven Provinces of Nepal (2001-2016)

Shankar Sharma^{1, 2}, Nitesh Khadka^{2, 3,} , Kalpana Hamal^{2, 4}, Binod Baniya⁵, Nirajan Luintel^{1, 6} and Bharat Badayar Joshi^{1, 6}

¹Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

²University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

³Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China;Siddhartha Environmental Services, Kathmandu, Nepal

⁴International Center for Climate and Environment Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 9804, Beijing 100029, China

⁵Department of Environmental Science, Patan Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Patan, Nepal

⁶Kathmandu Center for Research and Education, CAS-TU, Kirtipur, Nepal

Cite this paper:
Shankar Sharma, Nitesh Khadka, Kalpana Hamal, Binod Baniya, Nirajan Luintel and Bharat Badayar Joshi. Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Precipitation and Its Extremities in Seven Provinces of Nepal (2001-2016). Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 2020; 8(2):64-73. doi: 10.12691/aees-8-2-4

Abstract

Understanding the spatial and temporal variation of precipitation is important to identify its driving potential of extreme events that impact on the socio-economic conditions at national and provincial scales. This study presents the spatial and temporal variation of precipitation and the related extreme events in provincial scale using 143 rain-gauge stations across Nepal during 2001–2016. The results show the provincial differences in the precipitation distribution, with the highest precipitation in Province 4 (Bagmati) and lowest in Province 6 (Karnali). The precipitation is in decreasing trend at the national and provincial scale, expect for Province 6. The spatial distribution of precipitation shows the wettest (Lumle) and driest (Manang and Mustang) areas of the country located within the same Province 4. The seasonal cycle reveals the longer period of monsoon in Provinces 1 and 4; meanwhile, a shorter monsoon period was observed in Provinces 6 and 7 (Farwestern). Heavy (R10mm) and extreme precipitation (R25mm) events were higher in those provinces with a more extended monsoon period and vice-versa. The result further shows that the number of Consecutive Dry Day (CCD) spells in all the provinces was higher than the number of Consecutive Wet Day (CWD) spells. The time-series of extreme events (R10mm, R25mm, CDD and CWD) show an inter-annual variation in seven provinces during 2001-2016. The spatial variation of the number of wet and dry spells was reversed for the provinces lying in the eastern and western parts of the country. This study helps to update and upgrade our understanding of precipitation variability and related extremities over different provinces of Nepal, which can further assist the provincial government in disaster management.

Keywords:
monsoon extreme events dry day wet day province

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