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| Titel |
Rainfall statistics changes in Sicily |
| VerfasserIn |
E. Arnone, D. Pumo, F. Viola, L. V. Noto, G. Loggia |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1027-5606
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ; 17, no. 7 ; Nr. 17, no. 7 (2013-07-04), S.2449-2458 |
| Datensatznummer |
250018915
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/hess-17-2449-2013.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
Changes in rainfall characteristics are one of the most relevant signs of
current climate alterations. Many studies have demonstrated an increase in
rainfall intensity and a reduction of frequency in several areas of the
world, including Mediterranean areas. Rainfall characteristics may be
crucial for vegetation patterns formation and evolution in Mediterranean
ecosystems, with important implications, for example, in vegetation water
stress or coexistence and competition dynamics. At the same time,
characteristics of extreme rainfall events are fundamental for the
estimation of flood peaks and quantiles that can be used in many
hydrological applications, such as design of the most common hydraulic
structures, or planning and management of flood-prone areas.
In the past, Sicily has been screened for several signals of possible
climate change. Annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall data in the entire
Sicilian region have been analyzed, showing a global reduction of total
annual rainfall. Moreover, annual maximum rainfall series for different
durations have been rarely analyzed in order to detect the presence of
trends. Results indicated that for short durations, historical series
generally exhibit increasing trends, while for longer durations the trends
are mainly negative.
Starting from these premises, the aim of this study is to investigate and
quantify changes in rainfall statistics in Sicily, during the second half of
the last century. Time series of about 60 stations over the region have been
processed and screened by using the nonparametric Mann–Kendall test.
In particular, extreme events have been analyzed using annual maximum
rainfall series at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h duration, while daily rainfall
properties have been analyzed in terms of frequency and intensity, also
characterizing seasonal rainfall features. Results of extreme events
analysis confirmed an increasing trend for rainfall of short durations,
especially for 1 h rainfall duration. Conversely, precipitation events of long
durations have exhibited a decreased trend. Increase in short-duration
precipitation has been observed especially in stations located along the
coastline; however, no clear and well-defined spatial pattern has been
outlined by the results. Outcomes of analysis for daily rainfall properties
have showed that heavy–torrential precipitation events tend to be more frequent at
regional scale, while light rainfall events exhibited a negative trend at
some sites. Values of total annual precipitation events confirmed a significant
negative trend, mainly due to the reduction during the winter season. |
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