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- Title
Precipitation characteristics and trends in the Palestinian territories during the period 1951-2010.
- Authors
Hänsel, Stephanie; Zurba, Kamal
- Abstract
Precipitation is an important part of the hydrological cycle impacting many natural and human systems. The study area, covering the Palestinian territories and surrounding areas, is located in the subtropical dryland zone that is characterized by a wet season (October to May) and a dry season (June to September). Analyzing changes in precipitation totals and their timing within the year is of immense importance for the Palestine economy and particularly the agricultural management, as Palestine faces a chronic water shortage. The regional rainfall characteristics and their changes within the period 1951-2010 are studied using two gridded data sets, VASClimO and E-OBS. The annual precipitation totals in the study area range for individual grid cells from below 50 mm in the arid South to more than 650 mm in semi-arid North. The magnitude of the values depends on the chosen data set, but the general characterization of the moisture status of the months and years, respectively, is well comparable in most years. The timing of drought and wet events is compared and the spatial structure of rainfall is analyzed using the modified Rainfall Anomaly Index. Annual precipitation trends are mainly small and non-significant - except for the southern parts of the study area, where distinct precipitation decreases emerge in the E-OBS data set. Intra-annual precipitation changes are more pronounced with increasing precipitation in January and October (using E-OBS also in September) and decreases in April and December (using E-OBS also in March, May and November).
- Publication
FOG - Freiberg Online Geoscience, 2015, Vol 38, p103
- ISSN
1434-7512
- Publication type
Academic Journal