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Detecting changes in rainfall pattern and seasonality index vis-à-vis increasing water scarcity in Maharashtra

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Knowledge of mean rainfall and its variability of smaller spatial scale are important for the planners in various sectors including water and agriculture. In the present work, long rainfall data series (1901–2006) of districts of Maharashtra in monthly and seasonal scales are constructed and then mean rainfall and coefficient of variability are analyzed to get the spatial pattern and variability. Significant long term changes in monthly rainfall in the district scale are identified by trend analysis of rainfall time series. The seasonality index which is the measure of distribution of precipitation throughout the seasonal cycle is used to classify the different rainfall regime. Also long term changes of the seasonality index are identified by the trend analysis. The state Maharashtra which is to the northwest of peninsular India is highly influenced by the southwest monsoon and the state is facing water scarcity almost every year. This study will help to find out possible reason for the increasing water scarcity in Maharashtra.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. India Meteorological Department, Shivajinagar, Pune, 411 005, India

    PULAK GUHATHAKURTA & ELIZABETH SAJI

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  1. PULAK GUHATHAKURTA
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  2. ELIZABETH SAJI
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Correspondence to PULAK GUHATHAKURTA.

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GUHATHAKURTA, P., SAJI, E. Detecting changes in rainfall pattern and seasonality index vis-à-vis increasing water scarcity in Maharashtra. J Earth Syst Sci 122, 639–649 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-013-0294-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-013-0294-y

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