Assessing the spatio-temporal climate variability in semi-arid Karamoja subregion in north-eastern Uganda
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Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Environmental Studies
Abstract
Semi-arid areas show climatic variability on a spatio-temporal scale. There are few studies on the
long-term trends and intensity of this variability from East Africa. We used National Ocean and
Atmospheric Administration re-analysis climate data (1979–2009) in this study. Rainfall exhibited a
non-significant long-term trend. The climate of the area is variable (coefficient of variation-CV
>35.0%) with spatio-temporal oddities in rainfall and temperature. A rise in minimum (0.9 °C),
maximum (1.6 °C) and mean (1.3 °C) temperature occurred between 1979 and 2009. There were
more months with climate variability indices below the threshold (<1.0) from 1979 to 1994 than
between 1995 and 2009, with wetness intensity increasingly common after 2000, leading to the
observed reduction in the recurrence of multi-year drought events. More extreme wet events (rainfall
variability index >2.6) were experienced between 2004 and 2009 than between 1984 and 2003.
We consider that the use of spatio-temporal climatic information for timely adjustment to extreme
climate variability events is essential in semi-arid areas.
Description
Keywords
Climate variability, Forage, Variability index, Karamoja
Citation
Anthony Egeru, Richard Osaliya, Laban MacOpiyo, John Mburu, Oliver Wasonga, Bernard Barasa, Mohammed Said, Daniel Aleper & Gilbert-Jackson Majaliwa Mwanjalolo (2014) Assessing the spatio-temporal climate variability in semi-arid Karamoja sub-region in north-eastern Uganda, International Journal of Environmental Studies, 71:4, 490-509, DOI: 10.1080/00207233.2014.919729