Historical Rainfall and Evapotranspiration Changes over Mpologoma Catchment in Uganda
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Advances in Meteorology
Abstract
Changes in the long-term (1948–2016) rainfall and evapotranspiration over Mpologoma catchment were analysed using gridded
(0.25° × 0.25°) Princeton Global Forcing data. Trend and variability were assessed using a nonparametric approach based on the
cumulative sum of the difference between exceedance and nonexceedance counts of data. Annual and March-May (MAM) rainfall
displayed a positive trend (p < 0.05), whereas October-December (OND) and June-September rainfall exhibited negative trends
with p > 0.05 and p < 0.05, respectively. Positive subtrends in rainfall occurred in the 1950s and from the mid-2000s till 2016;
however, negative subtrends existed between 1960 till around 2005. Seasonal evapotranspiration exhibited a positive trend
(p > 0.05). For the entire period (1948–2016), there was no negative subtrend in the OND and MAM evapotranspiration. Rainfall
and evapotranspiration trends and oscillatory variation in subtrends over multidecadal time scales indicate the need for careful
planning of predictive adaptation to the impacts of climate variability on environmental applications which depend on water
balance in the Mpologoma catchment. It is recommended that future studies quantify possible contributions of human factors on
the variability of rainfall and evapotranspiration. Furthermore, climate change impacts on rainfall and evapotranspiration across
the study area should be investigated.
Description
Keywords
Historical Rainfall, Evapotranspiration, Mpologoma Catchment, Uganda
Citation
Mubialiwo, A., Onyutha, C., & Abebe, A. (2020). Historical rainfall and evapotranspiration changes over Mpologoma catchment in Uganda. Advances in Meteorology, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8870935