| Abstract: | As a country whose economy is heavily dependent on low-productivity rainfed agriculture, rainfall trends are often cited as one of the more important factors in explaining various socio-economic problems such as food insecurity. Therefore, in order to help policymakers and developers make more informed decisions, this study investigated the temporal dynamics of rainfall and its spatial distribution within Ethiopia. Changes in rainfall were examined using data from 134 stations in 13 watersheds between 1960 and 2002. The variability and trends in seasonal and annual rainfall were analysed at the watershed scale with data (1) from all available years, and (2) excluding years that lacked observations from at least 25% of the gauges. Similar anlyses were also performed at the gauge, regional, and national levels. By regressing annual watershed rainfall on time, results from the one-sample t-test show no significant changes in rainfall for any of the watersheds examined. However, in our regressions of seasonal rainfall averages against time, we found a significant decline in June to September rainfall (i.e. Kiremt) for the Baro-Akobo, Omo-Ghibe, Rift Valley, and Southern Blue Nile watersheds located in the southwestern and central parts of Ethiopia. While the gauge level analysis showed that certain gauge stations experienced recent changes in rainfall, these trends are not necessarily reflected at the watershed or regional levels. Copyright ?? 2008 Royal Meteorological Society. |
| Genre: | Article |
| ProdID: | 70032975 |
| Citation Author: | Cheung, W. H.; Senay, G. B.; Singh, A. |
| Citation Contributing Office: | |
| Citation Datum: | |
| Citation Day: | |
| Citation Edition: | |
| Citation Editor: | |
| Citation End Page: | 1734 |
| Citation Issue: | 13 |
| Citation Keywords: | |
| Citation Language: | English |
| Citation Larger Work Title: | International Journal of Climatology |
| Citation LatN: | |
| Citation LatS: | |
| Citation LonE: | |
| Citation LonW: | |
| Citation Month: | |
| Citation No Pagination: | |
| Citation Number Of Pages: | 12 |
| Citation Online Only Flag: | |
| Citation Phsyical Description: | |
| Citation Projection: | |
| Citation Public Comments: | |
| Citation Publisher: | |
| Citation Series: | |
| Citation Series Code: | |
| Citation Series Number: | |
| Citation Search Results Text: | Trends and spatial distribution of annual and seasonal rainfall in Ethiopia; 2008; Article; Journal; International Journal of Climatology; Cheung, W. H.; Senay, G. B.; Singh, A. |
| Citation Start Page: | 1723 |
| Citation Volume: | 28 |
| Citation Year: | 2008 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | Trends and spatial distribution of annual and seasonal rainfall in Ethiopia; 2008; Article; Journal; International Journal of Climatology; Cheung, W. H.; Senay, G. B.; Singh, A. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg |
| URL (DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER): | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.1623 |
| Date Other: | Tue, 1 Jan 2008 00:00 -0600 |
| Publisher: | |
