Theoretical and Applied Climatology

, Volume 105, Issue 3–4, pp 431–444 | Cite as

Spatial and temporal patterns of the mean annual precipitation at decadal time scale in southern Italy (Calabria region)

  • Gabriele Buttafuoco
  • Tommaso Caloiero
  • Roberto Coscarelli
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Mean annual precipitation variability at decadal time scale over a southern Italy area (Calabria) was investigated to quantify the spatial and temporal patterns. A multivariate approach has been applied to analyse spatial–temporal (1921–2000) data of annual precipitation. A nested isotropic linear model of coregionalization was fitted to the experimental variograms including three basic structures: a nugget effect, an exponential model and a spherical model. The correlation structure between the decades was analysed by applying principal component analysis at each spatial scale, and specific factors at each characteristic scale were cokriged and mapped. Two components were identified: the first is mainly linked to local factors, which could be identified by the orographic characteristics of the region, while the long range component could be related to large-scale factors, like for example the processes of the global atmospheric circulation. In addition, in order to obtain a better insight into the pattern of relatively dry or wet zones, a standardized relative difference was calculated. The results showed that the annual precipitation decreased during the period 1921–2000 and the spatial distribution changed with an increase of dry areas.

Keywords

Annual Precipitation Standardize Relative Difference North Atlantic Oscillation Index Cokriging Experimental Variograms 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the reviewers of this paper for providing constructive comments which have contributed to the improvement of the published version.

References

  1. Aguilar E, Auer I, Brunet M, Peterson TC, Wieringa J (2003) Guidlines on Climate Metadata and Homogenization. World Climate Programme Data and Monitoring WCDMP-No.53. WMO-TD No. 1186. WMO. Geneva.Google Scholar
  2. Amanatidis GT, Paliatsos AG, Repapis CC, Barttzis JG (1993) Decreasing precipitation trend in the Marathon area, Greece. Int J Climatol 13:191–201. doi: 10.1002/joc.3370130205 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Armstrong M, Chetboun G, Hubert P (1992) Kriging the rainfall in Lesotho. In: Soares A (ed) Geostatistics Troia 1992, vol 2. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 661–672Google Scholar
  4. Bradley RS, Diaz HF, Eischeid JK, Jones PD, Kelly PM, Goodess CM (1987) Precipitation fluctuations over Northern Hemisphere land areas since the mid-19th century. Science 237:171–175. doi: 10.1126/science.237.4811.171 ADSPubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Brunetti M, Buffoni L, Maugeri M, Nanni T (2000) Precipitation intensity trends in northern Italy. Int J Climatol 20:1017–1031. doi: 10.1002/1097-0088(200007)20:9<1017::AID-JOC515>3.0.CO;2-S CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Brunetti M, Maugeri M, Nanni T (2002) Atmospheric circulation and precipitation in Italy for the last 50 years. Int J Climatol 22:1455–1471CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Brunetti M, Caloiero T, Coscarelli R, Gullà G, Nanni T, Simolo C (2010) Precipitation variability and change in the Calabria region (Italy) from a high resolution daily dataset. Int J Climatol, doi:  10.1002/joc.2233
  8. Buttafuoco G, Castrignanò A, Busoni E, Dimase AC (2005) Studying the spatial structure evolution of soil water content using multivariate geostatistics. J Hydrol 311:202–218. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.01.018 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Caloiero D, Niccoli R, Reali C (1990) Le precipitazioni in Calabria (1921–1980). CNR-IRPI Cosenza, Italy, Geodata, 36Google Scholar
  10. Caloiero T, Coscarelli R, Ferrari E, Mancini M (2010) Seasonal rainfall trends and teleconnections in Calabria. In: Proceedings International Workshop Analyses and images of hydrological extremes in Mediterranean environments, Bios, Cosenza, pp 43–54Google Scholar
  11. Caloiero T, Coscarelli R, Ferrari E, Mancini M (2011) Trend detection of annual and seasonal rainfall in Calabria (southern Italy). Int J Climatol 31:44–56. doi: 10.1002/joc.2055 Google Scholar
  12. Castrignanò A, Giugliarini L, Risaliti R, Martinelli N (2000) Study of spatial relationships among some soil physico-chemical properties of a field in central Italy using multivariate geostatistics. Geoderma 97:39–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Castrignanò A, Maiorana M, Fornaro F, Lopez N (2002) 3D Spatial variability of soil strength and its change over time in a durum wheat field in Southern-Italy. Soil Till Res 65:95–108. doi: 10.1016/S0167-1987(01)00288-4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Chatfield C (1984) The analysis of time series, 3rd ed. Chapman and Hall, London, UKGoogle Scholar
  15. Chilès JP, Delfiner P (1999) Geostatistics: modelling spatial uncertainty. Wiley, New York, USAGoogle Scholar
  16. Colacino M, Conte M, Piervitali E (1997) Elementi di climatologia della Calabria. IFA-CNR, RomaGoogle Scholar
  17. Coscarelli R, Gaudio R, Caloiero T (2004) Climatic trends: an investigation for a Calabrian basin (Southern Italy). In: Proceedings of the International Symposium The basis of civilization. Water science? Rome, Italy, IAHS Publications no. 286, pp. 255–266Google Scholar
  18. Cotecchia V, Casarano D, Polemio M (2004) Characterization of rainfall trend and drought periods in Southern Italy from 1821 to 2001. In: Proceedings of 1st Italian–Russian Workshop New Trends in Hydrology, Rende (Cs), Italy, CNR Publications 2823, pp. 139–150Google Scholar
  19. Craddock JM (1979) Methods of comparing annual rainfall records for climatic purposes. Weather 34:332–346Google Scholar
  20. De Iaco S, Myers DE, Posa D (2003) The linear coregionalization model and the product–sum space–time variogram. Math Geol 35:25–38MathSciNetCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. De Cesare L, Myers DE, Posa D (1997) Spatio-temporal modeling of SO2 in Milan district. In: Baafi EY, Schofield NA (eds) Geostatistics Wollongong 1996, vol 2. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 1031–1042CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. De Michele C, Montanari A, Rosso R (1998) The effect of non-stationarity on the evaluation of critical design storms. Water Sci Technol 37:187–193. doi: 10.1016/s0273-1223(98)00332-1 Google Scholar
  23. Diaz HF, Bradley RS, Eischeid JK (1989) Precipitation fluctuation over global land areas since the late 1800s. J Geophys Res 94:1195–1210. doi: 10.1029/JD094iD01p01195 ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Famiglietti JS, Rudnicki JW, Rodell M (1998) Variability in surface moisture content along a hillslope transect: Rattlesnake hill, Texas. J Hydrol 210:259–281. doi: 10.1016/S0022-1694(98)00187-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Federico S, Dalu GA, Bellecci C, Colacino M (2000) Meso-scale energetics and flows induced by the sea–land and mountain–valley contrast. Ann Geophys 18:235–246ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Federico S, Bellecci C, Colacino M (2003a) Quantitative precipitation of the Soverato flood: the role of orography and surface fluxes. Nuovo Cimento 26 C:7–22ADSGoogle Scholar
  27. Federico S, Bellecci C, Colacino M (2003b) Numerical simulation of Crotone flood: storm evolution. Nuovo Cimento 26:357–371Google Scholar
  28. Federico S, Avolio E, Bellecci C, Lavagnini A, Walko RL (2007) Predictability of intense rain storms in the Central Mediterranean basin: sensitivity to upper-level forcing. Advances in Geosciences 12:5–18ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Federico S, Avolio E, Pasqualoni L, De Leo L, Sempreviva AM, Bellecci C (2009) Preliminary results of a 30-year daily rainfall data base in southern Italy. Atmos Res 94(4):641–651. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosres.2009.03.008 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Feidas H, Noulopoulou Ch, Makrogiannis T, Bora-Senta E (2007) Trend analysis of precipitation time series in Greece and their relationship with circulation using surface and satellite data: 1955–2001. Theor Appl Climatol 87:155–177. doi: 10.1007/s00704-006-0200-5 ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Fernandez J, Sàenz J, Zorita E (2003) Analysis of wintertime atmospheric moisture transport and its variability over southern Europe in the NCEP-Reanalyses. Clim Res 23:195–215, Print ISSN: 0936-577XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Ferrari E, Terranova O (2004) Non-parametric detection of trends and change point years in monthly and annual rainfalls. In: Proceedings of 1st Italian–Russian Workshop New Trends in Hydrology, Rende (Cs), Italy, CNR Publications 2823, pp. 177–188Google Scholar
  33. Geovariances (2010) ISATIS: Software Manual Release 9.0.4. Geovariances & Ecole des Mines de Paris, Paris, France.Google Scholar
  34. Goovaerts P (1992) Factorial kriging analysis: A useful tool for exploring the structure of multivariate spatial soil information. J Soil Sci 43:597–619CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Goovaerts P (1994) Study of spatial relationships between two sets of variables using multivariate geostatistics. Geoderma 62:93–107. doi: 10.1016/0016-7061(94)90030-2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Goovaerts P, Webster R (1994) Scale-dependent correlation between topsoil copper and cobalt concentrations in Scotland. Eur J Soil Sci 45:79–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Goovaerts P (1997) Geostatistics for natural resources evaluation. Oxford University Press, New York, USAGoogle Scholar
  38. Goovaerts P, Sonnet P (1993) Study of spatial and temporal variations of hydrogeochemical variables using factorial kriging analysis. In: Soares A (ed) Geostatistics Troia 1992, vol 2. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 745–756Google Scholar
  39. Heuvelink GB, Musters P, Pebesma EJ (1997) Spatio-temporal kriging of soil water content. In: Baafi EY, Schofield NA (eds) Geostatistics Wollongong 1996, vol 2. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 1020–1030CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Hohn ME, Liebhold AM, Gribko LS (1993) Geostatistical model for forecasting spatial dynamics of defoliation caused by the gypsy moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae). Environ Entomol 22:1066–1075Google Scholar
  41. Hulme M, Conway D, Jones PD, Jiang T, Barrow EM, Turney C (1995) Construction of a 1961–1990 European climatology for climate change modelling and impact applications. Int J Climatol 15:1333–1363. doi: 10.1002/joc.3370151204 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Hulme M, Conway D, Joyce A, Mulenga H (1996) A 1961–90 climatology for Africa south of the equator and a comparison of potential evapotranspiration estimates. South S Afr J Sci 92:334–343Google Scholar
  43. Hulme M, Osborn TJ, Johns TC (1998) Precipitation sensitivity to global warming: comparison of observations with HadCM2 simulations. Geophys Res Lett 25:3379–3382. doi: 10.1029/98GL02562 ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Journel AG, Huijbregts CJ (1978) Mining geostatistics. Academic Press, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  45. Kyriakidis C, Journel A (1999) Geostatistical space–time models: a review. Math Geol 31:651–684. doi: 10.1023/A:1007528426688 MathSciNetMATHCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Lana X, Burgueño A (2000) Statistical distribution and spectral analysis of rainfall anomalies for Barcelona (NE Spain). Theor Appl Climatol 66:211–227. doi: 10.1007/s007040070026 ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Lionello P, Malanotte-Rizzoli P, Boscolo R (2006) Mediterranean climate variability. Elsevier, Amsterdam, NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
  48. López-Moreno JI, Vicente-Serrano SM, Angulo-Martínez M, Beguería S, Kenawy A (2009) Trends in daily precipitation on the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, 1955–2006. Int J Climatol, Published online. doi: 10.1002/joc.1945Google Scholar
  49. Maheras P (1988) Changes in precipitation conditions in the Western Mediterranean over the last century. Int J Climatol 8:179–189. doi: 10.1002/joc.3370080205 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  50. Matari A, Kerrouche M, Bousid H, Douguédroit A (1999) Sécheresse dans l’ouest algérien. Publications de l'Association Internationale de Climatologie 12:98–106Google Scholar
  51. Matheron G (1971) The Theory of Regionalised variables and its Applications. Les Cahiers du Centre de Morphologie Mathématique de Fontainebleau n.5, Paris, France.Google Scholar
  52. Matheron G (1982) Pour une analyse krigeante des données régionalisées, Centre de Géostatistiques, École des Mines de Paris: Fontainebleau, Rapport n.732.Google Scholar
  53. Montanari A, Rosso R, Taqqu MS (1996) Some long-run properties of rainfall records in Italy. J of Geophys Res 101(D23):431–438Google Scholar
  54. Ninyerola M, Pons X, Roure JM (2000) A methodological approach of climatological modelling of air temperature and precipitation through GIS techniques. International Int J Climatol 20:1823–1841. doi: 10.1002/1097-0088(20001130)20:14<1823::AID-JOC566>3.0.CO;2-B ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  55. Norrant C, Douguedroit A (2006) Monthly and daily precipitation trends in the Mediterranean (1950–2000). Theor Appl Climatol 83:89–106. doi: 10.1007/s00704-005-0163-y ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  56. Palutikof JP (1996) Scenarios of future rainfall over the Mediterranean: is the region drying? Book of Abstracts. International Conference on Mediterranean Desertification: Crete, Hellas, October 29–November 1, vol. 1, pp. 33–39Google Scholar
  57. Peterson TC, Easterling DR, Karl TR, Groisman P, Nicholls N, Plummer N, Torok S, Auer I, Boehm R, Gullett D, Vincent L, Heino R, Toemenvirta H, Mestre O, Szentimrey T, Salinger J, Førland E, Hanssen-Bauer I, Alexandersson H, Jones P, Parker D (1998) Homogeneity adjustments of in situ atmospheric climate data: a review. Int J Climatol 18:1493–1517. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0088(19981115)18:13<1493::AID-JOC329>3.0.CO;2-T CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  58. Rodriguez-Iturbe I, Mejia JM (1974) The design of rainfall networks in time and space. Water Resour Res 10:713–728. doi: 10.1029/WR010i004p00713 ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. Rouhani S, Wackernagel H (1990) Multivariate geostatistical approach to space-time data analysis. Water Resour Res 26:585–591. doi: 10.1029/WR026i004p00585 ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. Smith RB (1979) The influence of mountains on the atmosphere. Adv Geophys 21:87–230ADSCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  61. Smith RB (1989) Hydrostatic airflow over mountains. Adv Geophys 31:1–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  62. Snepvangers JJJC, Heuvelink GBM, Huisman JA (2003) Soil water content interpolation using spatio-temporal kriging with external drift. Geoderma 112:253–271. doi: 10.1016/S0016-7061(02)00310-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  63. Sneyers R (1990) On the statistical analysis of series of observation. WMO, Technical Note N. 143, Geneve.Google Scholar
  64. Tukey JW (1977) Exploratory data analysis. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MAMATHGoogle Scholar
  65. Vachaud G, Passerat de Silans A, Balabanis P, Vauclin M (1985) Temporal stability of spatially measured soil water probability density function. Soil Sci Soc Am J 49:822–828CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  66. Ventrella D, Castrignanò A, Maiorana M, Lo Savio N, Monella A, Fornaio F (2002) Irrigation with brackish water: effects on soil strength of a fine textured soil. Adv Geoecol 35:279–290Google Scholar
  67. Vicente-Serrano SM, Saz MA, Cuadrat JM (2003) Comparative analysis of interpolation methods in the middle Ebro valley (Spain): application to annual precipitation and temperature. Climate Res 24:161–180. doi: 10.3354/cr024161 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  68. Wackernagel H (2003) Multivariate geostatistics: an introduction with applications. Springer-Verlag, BerlinMATHGoogle Scholar
  69. Webster R, Oliver MA (2007) Geostatistics for environmental scientists. Wiley, Chichester, UKMATHCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  70. Willmott CJ, Robeson SM (1995) Climatologically aided interpolation (CAI) of terrestrial air temperature. Int J Climatol 15:221–229. doi: 10.1002/joc.3370150207 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  71. Yu B, Neil DT (1993) Long-term variations in regional rainfall in the south-west of Western Australia and the difference between average and high intensity rainfalls. Int J Climatol 13:77–88. doi: 10.1002/joc.3370130106 CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  • Gabriele Buttafuoco
    • 1
  • Tommaso Caloiero
    • 2
  • Roberto Coscarelli
    • 2
  1. 1.Institute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean (ISAFOM)CNRRende (CS)Italy
  2. 2.Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection (IRPI)CNRRende (CS)Italy

Personalised recommendations