Temporal variability study in rainfall and temperature over Varanasi and adjoining areas

Abstract

India has diverse climatic conditions, it is full of uncertainty and extremities for example, its temperature varies from below 5°C in Jammu and Kashmir to near about 48°C in most of South India and rainfall from extreme arid less than 100 mm in the Thar Desert to per-humid with world’s maximum rainfall of 11,200 mm at Mawsynram in the state of Meghalaya. Along with these, human activity also influences the climatic parameters. Small change in the climatic parameters affects the environment, their surroundings and associated natural resources. One consequence of this unbalancing is the change in the water cycle, with precipitation (rainfall) being a major component in this. To identify the trend in the rainfall and temperature regime of the Varanasi and adjoining areas, a study was carried out. In this study, monthly data of weather parameters have been collected for 30 years (1988-2017) and non-parametric test is used for analysis as it is less affected by the presence of outliers and other forms of non-normalities. The study revealed a significant decreasing trend in maximum temperature with some exception and for minimum temperature, decreasing trend observed at 1% and 0.1% in the month of July and August. April, June and July show an increasing trend of relative humidity at 1%, 5% and 10% significance level. Estimation of magnitude of trends for all weather parameters was also calculated by Theil-Sen’s estimator. Analysis of trends in rainfall and temperature could provide useful information for sustainable planning of water resources in the Varanasi and adjoining areas. © 2019, World Research Association. All right reserved.