Summary
(1) The main objectives of this study are the spatial and temporal analysis of annual 24-hour extreme precipitation amounts for different return periods, and (2) the interannual variability of the frequency of month-to-month maximum rainfall using harmonic analysis. Long time series data from 110 well-scattered rain gauges are analysed using extreme values theory and harmonic analysis techniques. The results indicate that the Jenkinson solution is more appropriate than the linear Gumbel solution for the extreme value law. The maximum expected values of 180–200 mm are observed along the southern coasts of the Greek peninsula and in the islands close to the Turkish coast, as well as in the north–west parts of the country. The harmonic analysis showed that the highest percentage of variance for rainfall extremes explained by the first harmonic (PVR(1)) appears over the southern and south-eastern parts of Greece in association with the greatest values of the amplitude of this harmonic, therefore explaining more than 90% of the variation of the frequency of maximum annual 24-hour rainfall amounts. In contrast, for regions north of 38° N and especially mountainous regions, more harmonics (3–5) are necessary to describe the parameter under investigation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
RG Barry AH Perry (1973) Synoptic climatological methods and applications Methuen & Co Ltd. London
W Burroughs (1992) Weather cycles real or imaginary Cambridge University Press Cambridge 175–177
L Carapiperis (1957) ArticleTitleTrends in Athens rainfall Geof Pura Apllicata 38 261–264 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01996996
L Carapiperis BD Catsoulis (1969) ArticleTitleContribution to the study of rainfall over central and western parts of mainland of Greece Publ. of National Observatory of Athens Series II Meterology 19 3–26
Carapiperis L, Theoharatos GA, Tselepidaki IG (1980) Heavy rainfalls over Thessaly and western Macedonia. Proc. 2nd Hellenic Hydrology Seminar 1, pp 229–238 (in Greek)
RA Fisher LHC Tippert (1928) ArticleTitleLimiting forms of the frequency distribution of the largest or smallest member of a sample Proc Cambridge Phil Soc 24 24–180 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0305004100015681
Flocas A, Bloutsos A (1980) Estimation of daily maximum rainfall in Greece for different return periods. Proc. II Hellenic Hydrology Seminar, 1, pp 211–218 (in Greek)
EJ Gumbel (1958) Statistics of extremes Columbia University Press New York
MG Jenkins D Watts (1980) Spectral analysis and its applications Holden-Day London 16–23
AF Jenkinson (1955) ArticleTitleThe frequency distribution of the annual maximum (or minimum) values of meteorological elements Quart J Roy Meteorol Soc 81 158–171 Occurrence Handle10.1002/qj.49708134804
EA Kanellopoulou (2002) ArticleTitleSpatial distribution of rainfall seasonality in Greece Weather 57 215–219 Occurrence Handle10.1256/004316502760053576
LN Karapiperis (1956) ArticleTitleRainfall distribution over Greece during the several seasons of the year Academy Athens 31 56–62
BD Katsoulis HD Kambezidis (1989) ArticleTitleAnalysis of the long-term precipitation series at Athens Greece Climatic Change 14 56–62 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00134966
BD Katsoulis IG Tselepidaki GA Theoharatos (1976) ArticleTitleCharacteristics of the precipitation in Athens Bull Hellenic Meteorol Soc 2 1–19
I Lioki-Livada DN Asimakopoulos (2004) Introduction to Applied Statistics Symmetria Press Athens
I Livada DN Asimakopoulos (2005) ArticleTitleIndividual seasonality index of rainfall regimes in Greece Clim Res 28 155–161 Occurrence Handle10.3354/cr028155
Lykoudis S, Proedrou M, Kontoyiannidis S, Livada- Tselepidaki I (1994) Study on the trends of precipitation for various precipitation regimes over northern Greece. 2nd National Scientific Conference on Meteorology – Climatology – Atmospheric Physics. Thessaloniki, Greece, Proc., pp 359–368
Maheras P (1983) Climatologie de la mer Egée et ses marges continentales. Thèse Université de Lille III France
P Maheras F Kolyva-Machera (1990) ArticleTitleTemporal and spatial characteristics of annual precipitation over the Balkan in the twentieth century Int J Climatol 10 495–504 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.3370100506
Mariolopoulos H, Karapiperis L (1955) Precipitation over Greece (a map), Athens (in Greek)
HA Panofsky GW Brier (1958) Some applications of statistics to meteorology Pennsylvania State University Press Pennsylvania
Papadopoulos A, Machaira H, Tselepidaki I, Sakellariou N (1994) Analysis of linear correlation coefficients of monthly rainfall totals over Greece. 2nd National Scientific Conference on Meteorology – Climatology – Atmospheric Physics. Thessaloniki, Greece, Proc., pp 497–505
Sakellariou N, Zoumboulidou V, Livada-Tselepidaki I, Asimakopoulos D (1992) Rainfall variability recorded by the Greek coastal stations. 1st National Scientific Conference on Meteorology – Climatology – Atmospheric Physics, Proc., pp 147–153
Sakellariou N, Papadopoulos A, Kambezidis H, Psiloglou B, Asimakopoulos D (1993) Analyse de corrélation des Niveaux de Pluie Mensuel à des stations de la mer Egée. Proc. 6eme Colloque Internationale de Climatologie
Q Tarawneh M Kadioglu (2003) ArticleTitleAn analysis of precipitation climatology in Jordan Theor Appl Climatol 74 123–136 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00704-002-0705-5
Theoharatos GA (1978) The climate of Cyclades islands. PhD thesis
GA Theoharatos HG Tselepidaki (1981) ArticleTitleEstimation de précipitations maximales sur les régions du nord en Grèece Bull Hellenic Meteorol Soc 6 IssueID1–3 21–30
Tselepidaki I, Katsoulis BD (1985) Examination of the risk of heavy precipitation over the mountainous regions of Central Greece. 19th International Conference for Alpine Meteorology Beograd Yugoslavia, pp 84–86
DS Wilks (1995) Statistical methods in the atmospheric sciences: an introduction Academic Press San Diego
WMO (1969) Estimation of maximum floods. Technical Note No 98 WMO – No 233, TP.126: 288 pp
Zerefos C, Cosmas G, Repapis C, Zambakas I (1977) Study of the precipitation time series for the IMPAE station and for 100 years time period (1871–1970) Internal report. Laboratory of Climatology University of Athens, 39 pp
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Correspondence: M. N. Assimakopoulos, Group of Building Environmental Physics, Building Physics 5, University Campus, University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Livada, I., Charalambous, G. & Assimakopoulos, M. Spatial and temporal study of precipitation characteristics over Greece. Theor Appl Climatol 93, 45–55 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-007-0331-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-007-0331-2