Assessment of Concentration, Erosivity and Seasonality of Precipitation Data for 1970-2019 Period of Karataş Gauging Station

Abstract

Temporal and spatial variations in precipitation as a result of the effects of climate change generally cause a flood, drought, soil erosion, etc. events to occur. For this reason, determining the precipitation variability in a region is quite important in protecting soil and water resources and in struggling soil erosion. This study aims to examine the monthly and annual variation of precipitation, annual and seasonal precipitation concentration (APCI and SPCI), annual and seasonal precipitation erosivity (AMFI) and SMFI, and seasonality of precipitation (SI) of the Karataş meteorological station in the Seyhan Basin for the period 1970-2019. In addition, the change of these parameters in the examined period was examined using the Mann-Kendall (MK) trend test. According to the results obtained, generally irregular and strong irregular precipitation distribution was obtained in the APCI values calculated for the Karataş station. According to SPCI analysis, SPCIWinter values are uniform and moderate, SPCISpring values are moderate, SPCISummer values are strongly irregular, and SPCIAutumn values have moderate precipitation distribution. According to the AMFI values calculated to examine the precipitation erosivity, it was determined that the precipitation generally constitutes a high (34%) and a quite high (40%) erosion risk. According to seasonal MFI analysis results, SMFIWinter values generally show a high and very high erosion risk, SMFISpring and SMFISummer values show no or very low erosion risk, and SMFIAutumn values show moderate, high and very high (about 62%) erosion risk. According to the SI analysis results of the 50-year study period, about half of the SI values represent significant seasonal precipitation with a long dry season. The Mann-Kendall trend results of monthly total precipitation, annual total precipitation, APCI, SPCI, AMFI, SMFI and SI values show that there are no significant trends for the 1970-2019 period.