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Analysis of spatio-temporal variability in observed rainfall over Karnataka using different data analytical techniques

Journal of Earth System Science volume 131, Article number: 66 (2022) Cite this article

Abstract

Karnataka, a state in south India with nearly 80% of the cultivated land under rainfed farming, is very much dependent on rainfall for agricultural productivity. The spatio-temporal variability in observed rainfall over Karnataka is investigated using various data analytical techniques such as parametric and non-parametric methods, rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF), clustering and spectral analysis. The observed data used for studying rainfall variability is the daily taluk-wise telemetric rain gauge data for a period of 1960–2016. A similar pattern in trend is observed in annual and south-west monsoon (SWM) rainfall over Karnataka such that taluks in the western and northern parts showed a decreasing trend, whereas the south interior part showed an increasing trend. A significant increasing trend in rainfall was found during pre-monsoon seasons whereas the northeast monsoon (NEM) rainfall showed a decreasing trend. The REOF analysis also indicated an upward (downward) trend in SWM and annual over the northern (southern) Karnataka and a weakening trend in the NEM rainfall. Using the hierarchical clustering method, six homogeneous rainfall clusters were identified over Karnataka based on distribution and variability of rainfall. The spectral analysis over different clusters showed significant oscillations in the annual and SWM rainfall in the 1970s and recent decades except the Western Ghat region where oscillations were much weaker during recent decades. The pre-monsoon and NEM rainfall also showed strong variability with a periodicity of 2–4 years in recent decades. The findings of this study can have implications while designing water resource management strategies across various sectors in Karnataka.

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Acknowledgements

The observed rainfall data are obtained from Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Center (KSNDMC) and the authors acknowledge the effort taken by KSNDMC in setting up the observation network and their support. The support from CSIR YSA research grant is acknowledged by V Rakesh. The study is carried out at CSIR 4PI and institutional support is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR Fourth Paradigm Institute, NAL Wind Tunnel Road, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

    Adithya Samanth, V Rakesh, Smrati Purwar & G N Mohapatra

  2. Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, 576 104, Karnataka, India

    Adithya Samanth & B Jagadeesha Pai

  3. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201 002, India

    V Rakesh, Smrati Purwar & G N Mohapatra

  4. Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Center (KSNDMC), Bangalore, India

    S M Gavaskar

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  1. Adithya Samanth
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Contributions

AS contributed to data analysis and plotting for the manuscript. VR contributed to conceptualise, design, data analysis and drafting the manuscript. Ms SP contributed to analysing data and generating figures. SMG contributed to observation data analysis and quality control. GNM contributed to manuscript formatting and figure generation.

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Correspondence to V Rakesh.

Additional information

Communicated by Parathasarathi Mukhopadhyay

Supplementary material pertaining to this article is available on the Journal of Earth System Science website (http://www.ias.ac.in/Journals/Journal_of_Earth_System_Science).

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Samanth, A., Rakesh, V., Purwar, S. et al. Analysis of spatio-temporal variability in observed rainfall over Karnataka using different data analytical techniques. J Earth Syst Sci 131, 66 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-022-01810-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-022-01810-7

Keywords

  • Cluster analysis
  • Sen’s slope
  • M–K test
  • spectral analysis
  • rotated empirical orthogonal function
  • wavelet analysis
  • rainfall variability