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Analysis of Rainfall and Temperature Trends and Variability in Semi-arid North-eastern Ethiopia

Received: 31 March 2020     Accepted: 23 April 2020     Published: 27 August 2020
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Abstract

Northeast Ethiopia is a semi-arid region that exhibits high rainfall and temperature variability. The impact of climate change has received a great deal of attention worldwide. This study focused on detecting trends in in rainfall (1983-2013) and temperature (1981-2010) at annual, seasonal and monthly time scales for six weather stations in semi-arid north eastern Ethiopia. The study also aimed to determine dry spell length, number of rainy days, onset and cessation dates, and length of growing period. The non-parametric tests such as Mann-Kendall and Sen’s Slope were used to determine climatic trends. The results indicated that both the annual maximum and minimum temperature in the study region showed an increasing trend, but only the trend for maximum temperature was significant. In the same manner, both the Belg and Kiremt seasons maximum and minimum temperature also showed an increasing trend but only trend of maximum temperature during Belg season and trend of minimum and maximum temperature during Kiremt seasons was significant. The annual and Belg season rainfall in the region showed a decreasing trend and its trend was significant. The coefficient of rainfall variability for annual and Belg season was very high which could affect agricultural production in the region. In the contrary, the trend for Kiremt season rainfall was increasing without significant trend. On the other hand, the average length of dry spell during the Kiremt season in the region was generally long that ranged from 27 days to 39 days and showed both decreasing and increasing but with no significant trend in most stations. The number of annual rainy days also showed both increasing and decreasing trends but its trend was not significant. The length of growing period in the region was relatively stable at all stations during the last 30 years period without non-significant trend. In general, from the analysis of annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall and temperature data series it can be concluded that rainfall and temperature characteristics of the study area is changing, even though some of the trends on both parameters were not statistically significant.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 8, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijema.20200804.11
Page(s) 75-87
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Climate Variability, Dry Spell, LGP, Mann-kendall, Rainfall, Trend

References
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  • APA Style

    Abate Getachew Feleke, Mulualem Abera. (2020). Analysis of Rainfall and Temperature Trends and Variability in Semi-arid North-eastern Ethiopia. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 8(4), 75-87. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20200804.11

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    ACS Style

    Abate Getachew Feleke; Mulualem Abera. Analysis of Rainfall and Temperature Trends and Variability in Semi-arid North-eastern Ethiopia. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2020, 8(4), 75-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20200804.11

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    AMA Style

    Abate Getachew Feleke, Mulualem Abera. Analysis of Rainfall and Temperature Trends and Variability in Semi-arid North-eastern Ethiopia. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2020;8(4):75-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20200804.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijema.20200804.11,
      author = {Abate Getachew Feleke and Mulualem Abera},
      title = {Analysis of Rainfall and Temperature Trends and Variability in Semi-arid North-eastern Ethiopia},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
      volume = {8},
      number = {4},
      pages = {75-87},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20200804.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20200804.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20200804.11},
      abstract = {Northeast Ethiopia is a semi-arid region that exhibits high rainfall and temperature variability. The impact of climate change has received a great deal of attention worldwide. This study focused on detecting trends in in rainfall (1983-2013) and temperature (1981-2010) at annual, seasonal and monthly time scales for six weather stations in semi-arid north eastern Ethiopia. The study also aimed to determine dry spell length, number of rainy days, onset and cessation dates, and length of growing period. The non-parametric tests such as Mann-Kendall and Sen’s Slope were used to determine climatic trends. The results indicated that both the annual maximum and minimum temperature in the study region showed an increasing trend, but only the trend for maximum temperature was significant. In the same manner, both the Belg and Kiremt seasons maximum and minimum temperature also showed an increasing trend but only trend of maximum temperature during Belg season and trend of minimum and maximum temperature during Kiremt seasons was significant. The annual and Belg season rainfall in the region showed a decreasing trend and its trend was significant. The coefficient of rainfall variability for annual and Belg season was very high which could affect agricultural production in the region. In the contrary, the trend for Kiremt season rainfall was increasing without significant trend. On the other hand, the average length of dry spell during the Kiremt season in the region was generally long that ranged from 27 days to 39 days and showed both decreasing and increasing but with no significant trend in most stations. The number of annual rainy days also showed both increasing and decreasing trends but its trend was not significant. The length of growing period in the region was relatively stable at all stations during the last 30 years period without non-significant trend. In general, from the analysis of annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall and temperature data series it can be concluded that rainfall and temperature characteristics of the study area is changing, even though some of the trends on both parameters were not statistically significant.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Analysis of Rainfall and Temperature Trends and Variability in Semi-arid North-eastern Ethiopia
    AU  - Abate Getachew Feleke
    AU  - Mulualem Abera
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.20200804.11
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
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    EP  - 87
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7667
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20200804.11
    AB  - Northeast Ethiopia is a semi-arid region that exhibits high rainfall and temperature variability. The impact of climate change has received a great deal of attention worldwide. This study focused on detecting trends in in rainfall (1983-2013) and temperature (1981-2010) at annual, seasonal and monthly time scales for six weather stations in semi-arid north eastern Ethiopia. The study also aimed to determine dry spell length, number of rainy days, onset and cessation dates, and length of growing period. The non-parametric tests such as Mann-Kendall and Sen’s Slope were used to determine climatic trends. The results indicated that both the annual maximum and minimum temperature in the study region showed an increasing trend, but only the trend for maximum temperature was significant. In the same manner, both the Belg and Kiremt seasons maximum and minimum temperature also showed an increasing trend but only trend of maximum temperature during Belg season and trend of minimum and maximum temperature during Kiremt seasons was significant. The annual and Belg season rainfall in the region showed a decreasing trend and its trend was significant. The coefficient of rainfall variability for annual and Belg season was very high which could affect agricultural production in the region. In the contrary, the trend for Kiremt season rainfall was increasing without significant trend. On the other hand, the average length of dry spell during the Kiremt season in the region was generally long that ranged from 27 days to 39 days and showed both decreasing and increasing but with no significant trend in most stations. The number of annual rainy days also showed both increasing and decreasing trends but its trend was not significant. The length of growing period in the region was relatively stable at all stations during the last 30 years period without non-significant trend. In general, from the analysis of annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall and temperature data series it can be concluded that rainfall and temperature characteristics of the study area is changing, even though some of the trends on both parameters were not statistically significant.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia, Meteorological Research and Studies Directorate, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  • National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia, Meteorological Data Archive and Climatology Directorate, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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