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Temporal Variability of Annual Rainfall in the Macta and Tafna Catchments, Northwestern Algeria

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Abstract

We analyzed the temporal variability of annual precipitation measured at five stations in the Macta (14,380 km2) and Tafna (4,949 km2) catchments located in northwestern Algeria, in connection with climate indices over the 1950–2004 period. Analysis of the temporal variability using linear regression and Pettitt test revealed a significant decline in annual rainfall in the mid-1970s in both basins. Furthermore, a decrease of at least 20% of total annual rainfall is also observed at all five stations. As for the relationship between climate indices and variability of annual precipitation, canonical correlation analysis shows that, from 1950 to 2004, precipitation at the five stations are negatively correlated with NINO4 and, to a lesser degree, with NAO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. École Nationale Supérieure d’Hydraulique, Blida, Algeria

    Mohamed M. Meddi & Hind Meddi

  2. Laboratoire d’hydro-climatologie et de géomorphologie fluviale, section de Géographie, Pavillon Léon-Provencher, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351, Boulevard des Forges, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, G9A 5H7

    Ali Arkamose Assani

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  1. Mohamed M. Meddi
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  2. Ali Arkamose Assani
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  3. Hind Meddi
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Correspondence to Ali Arkamose Assani.

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Meddi, M.M., Assani, A.A. & Meddi, H. Temporal Variability of Annual Rainfall in the Macta and Tafna Catchments, Northwestern Algeria. Water Resour Manage 24, 3817–3833 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-010-9635-7

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