Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Spatial analysis of precipitation intensity and concentration in Iran

  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Understanding rainfall variability in the arid, rugged landscapes of Iran requires studying the climatology and spatial patterns of daily precipitation. This paper applies geostatistical and other methods to daily precipitation data from 90 stations that are distributed across Iran to calculate daily rainfall concentration and intensity and map their spatial distribution. The results show that daily precipitation tends to be irregular and intense across much of Iran and that a disproportionately large share of the annual rainfall comes from a small number of high intensity to extreme rainfall events. Analysis of daily rainfall concentration confirms that extreme events are widely distributed across the country, with more than 20% of the land area exposed to the risk of extreme rainfall. The areas experiencing the most frequent extreme events are the hot, dry southern coast and the western slopes of the main north–south range, the Zagros Mountains. Even the wettest parts of the country along the Caspian Sea coast derive a significant amount of their rain from high intensity and extreme events. A cross-validation analysis supports the reliability and accuracy of the geostatistical modeling.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • B Alijani (1979) ArticleTitleRelation between cyclone tracks and upper level flow patterns in the Middle East Geogr Res Q 4 125–143

    Google Scholar 

  • B Alijani (1997) Climate of Iran Payam Nour University Tehran, Iran

    Google Scholar 

  • B Alijani (2002a) ArticleTitleVariations of 500 hPa flow patterns and their relationship with the climate of Iran Theor Appl Climatol 72 41–52 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s007040200011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B Alijani (2002b) ArticleTitleIdentifying rain producing weather types of Tehran according to the vorticity computations Geogr Res Q 63&64 114–132

    Google Scholar 

  • B Alijani G Azizi P Rezai (2004a) ArticleTitleThe effects of synoptic patterns on the floods of the southern Caspian Coast. Case study: Shafarood and Talar rivers Q J Territory 1 1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • B Alijani JR Harman (1985) ArticleTitleSynoptic climatology of precipitation in Iran Ann Assoc Am Geogr 75 404–416 Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.1467-8306.1985.tb00075.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B Alijani Z Jafarpour GJ Ghobadi (2005a) ArticleTitleAnalysis of the Droughts in the Southern coastal areas of the Caspian Sea Q J Territory 7 11–23

    Google Scholar 

  • B Alijani Z Jafarpour H Ghaderi (2005b) ArticleTitleAnalysis and forecasting of precipitation in the Larestan area by Markov chain Q J Territory 7 1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • B Alijani TG Parnian (2004) ArticleTitleSynoptic patterns of the flood rains of Gorgan River Q J Territory 2 1–20

    Google Scholar 

  • B Alijani M Zahedi (2002) ArticleTitleSynoptic and statistical analysis of precipitation of Azerbaijan Geogr Res Q 65&66 202–217

    Google Scholar 

  • A Baniwaheb B Alijani (2005) ArticleTitleStudying droughts and forecasting precipitation and temperature in Birjand area J Res Geogr 52 33–46

    Google Scholar 

  • MC Brown (1994) ArticleTitleUsing Gini-style indices to evaluate the spatial patterns of health practitioners: theoretical considerations and an application based on Alberta data Soc Sci Med 38 1243–1256 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0277-9536(94)90189-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M Brunetti M Maugeri T Nanni (2001) ArticleTitleChanges in total precipitation, rainy days and extreme events in northeastern Italy Int J Climatol 21 861–871 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A Burgueño C Serra X Lana (2004) ArticleTitleMonthly and annual statistical distributions of daily rainfall at the Fabra Observatory (Barcelona, NE Spain) for the years 1917–1999 Theor Appl Climatol 77 57–75 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00704-003-0020-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A Burgueño MD Martinez X Lana C Serra (2005) ArticleTitleStatistical distributions of the daily rainfall regime in Catalonia (Northeastern Spain) for the years 1950–2000 Int J Climatol 25 1381–1403 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.1197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JD Creutin C Obled (1982) ArticleTitleObjective analysis and mapping techniques for rainfall fields: an objective comparison Water Resour Res 18 413–431 Occurrence Handle10.1029/WR018i002p00413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JP Delhomme (1978) ArticleTitleKriging in the hydrosciences Adv Water Resour 1 251–266 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0309-1708(78)90039-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derby N (2003) Derivation of the Gini index. Statistical consulting report, Department of Biostatistics and Statistics, University of Washington

  • Y Dinpashoh A Fakheri-Fard M Moghaddam S Jahanbakhsh M Mirnia (2004) ArticleTitleSelection of variables for the purpose of regionalization of Iran’s precipitation climate using multivariate methods J Hydrol 294 109–123 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.04.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M Domroes M Kaviani D Schaefer (1998) ArticleTitleAn analysis of regional and intra-annual precipitation variability over Iran using multivariate statistical methods Theor Appl Climatol 61 151–159 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s007040050060

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DR Easterling JL Evans P Ya Groisman TR Karl KE Kunkel P Ambenje (2000) ArticleTitleObserved variability and trends in extreme climate events: a brief review Bull Amer Meteor Soc 81 417–425 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081<0417:OVATIE>2.3.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JJ Egozcue C Ramis (2001) ArticleTitleBayesian hazard analysis of heavy precipitation in eastern Spain Int J Climatol 26 1263–1279 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • HJ Fowler CG Kilsby (2003) ArticleTitleA regional frequency analysis of United Kingdom extreme rainfall from 1961 to 2000 Int J Climatol 23 1313–1334 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.943

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P Goovaerts (2000) ArticleTitleGeostatistical approaches for incorporating elevation into the spatial interpolation of rainfall J Hydrol 228 113–129 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00144-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PY Groisman TR Karl DR Easterling RW Knight PF Jamason KJ Hennessy R Suppiah CM Page J Wibig K Fortuniak VN Razuvaev A Douglas EJ Forland P Zhai (1999) ArticleTitleChanges in probability of heavy precipitation: important indicators of climate change Climate Change 42 243–283 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1005432803188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EH Issaks RM Srivastava (1989) An introduction to applied geostatistics Oxford University Press Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • X Lana MD Martinez C Serra A Burgueno (2005) ArticleTitlePeriodicities and irregularities of indices describing the daily pluviometric regime of the Fabra Observatory (NE Spain) for the years 1917–1999 Theor Appl Climatol 82 183–198 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00704-005-0127-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B Liebmann C Jones LM DeCarvalho (2001) ArticleTitleInter-annual variability of daily extreme precipitation events in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil J Climate 14 208–218 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014<0208:IVODEP>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J Martin-Vide (2004) ArticleTitleSpatial distribution of a daily precipitation concentration index in peninsular Spain Int J Climatol 24 959–971 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.1030

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GA Meehl T Karl DR Easterling S Changnon R Pielke SuffixJr D Changnon J Evans PY Groisman TR Knutson KE Kunkel LO Mearns C Parmesan R Pulwarty T Root RT Sylves P Whetton F Zwiers (2000) ArticleTitleAn introduction to trends in extreme climate and weather events observations, socioeconomic impacts, terrestrial ecological impacts and model projections Bull Amer Meteor Soc 81 413–416 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081<0413:AITTIE>2.3.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M Mehdizadeh MH Mahdian H Hajjam (2006) ArticleTitleThe efficiency of geostatistics in regionalizing the climate of the Oroomieh watershed, Iran J Phys Space 32 103–116

    Google Scholar 

  • A Moberg PD Jones (2005) ArticleTitleTrends in indices for extremes in daily temperature and precipitation in Central and Western Europe Int J Climatol 25 1149–1171 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.1163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • TJ Osborn M Hulme PD Jones TA Basnett (2000) ArticleTitleObserved trends in the daily intensity of United Kingdom precipitation Int J Climatol 20 347–364 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1097-0088(20000330)20:4<347::AID-JOC475>3.0.CO;2-C

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D Peñarrocha MJ Estrela M Millan (2002) ArticleTitleClassification of daily rainfall patterns in a Mediterranean area with extreme intensity levels: the valencia region Int J Climatol 22 677–695 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M Perry D Hollis (2005) ArticleTitleThe generation of monthly gridded datasets for a range of climatic variables over the UK Int J Climatol 25 1041–1054 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.1161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C Prudhomme DW Reed (1999) ArticleTitleMapping extreme rainfall in a mountainous region using geostatistical techniques: a case study in Scotland Int J Climatol 19 1337–1356 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1097-0088(199910)19:12<1337::AID-JOC421>3.0.CO;2-G

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W Tobler (1970) ArticleTitleA computer movie simulating urban growth in detroit region Econ Geogr 46 234–240 Occurrence Handle10.2307/143141

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Tarbiat Moalem University, Tehran, Iran

    B. Alijani

  2. School of Earth Sciences and Geography, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, UK

    J. O’Brien

  3. Department of Geography and Center for Integrated Regional Assessment, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    B. Yarnal

Authors
  1. B. Alijani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. O’Brien
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B. Yarnal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. Yarnal.

Additional information

Correspondence: Professor Brent Yarnal, Department of Geography and Center for Integrated Regional Assessment, 302 Walker Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Alijani, B., O’Brien, J. & Yarnal, B. Spatial analysis of precipitation intensity and concentration in Iran. Theor Appl Climatol 94, 107–124 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-007-0344-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-007-0344-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation