Spatiotemporal variations in rainfall–topographic relationships in southwestern Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Spatial variations in the relationship between topography and mean annual and seasonal rainfalls in southwestern Saudi Arabia are examined using Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis of variance. The topographic factors include physiographic features (topography), altitude, slope, proximity to a ridge or crest of mountains, and proximity to the Red Sea. There is a statistically significant effect of topographic factors on the mean annual rainfall, but the results are more significant for the mean seasonal rainfall. The largest amount of mean rainfall in the study area occurs during spring, when rainfall displays a significant relationship with topographic factors, in which more orographic rainfall patterns are associated with higher altitude, greater proximity to a ridge and steeper slopes. Higher altitudes do not necessarily receive more rain; some low altitude locations (i.e., the southern part of the study area) receive more rain during summer and fall because they are located on the windward side of the Asir Mountains and are exposed to the moist air masses brought by the southwest monsoonal system in summer and by the northwest air flow from the Mediterranean and Red Sea in the fall in addition to local convective rainfall patterns. Rainfall in winter increases in the foothills of the Asir Mountains above the coastal plain of the Red Sea. The steep western slopes (windward side) receive more rainfall than the gentle eastern slopes (leeward side): this may be due to the Asir Mountains forcing moist air masses carried by the westerly and northwest winds to rise and cool before they descend and warm on the leeward side.