Investigation of climate change by analysing the rainfall pattern in kuzhithuraiyar sub-basin of India using GIS-based spatial analysis

Abstract

Global climate change may have a significant effect on several environmental components in many different nations worldwide. Variations in the pattern of precipitation have an immediate impact on the management of water resources. To improve water resource management techniques, it is critical to investigate differences in the temporal and geographical rainfall patterns. The current study looks at rainfall patterns in the Kuzhithuraiyar sub-basin of the Kodayar basin, Kanyakumari District. Utilizing the mean monthly data from four distinct rain gauge locations, we have comprehensively compiled and analysed rainfall statistics over an extensive timespan of 30 years (1991–2020). For precision in temporal categorization, this data was meticulously divided into four seasonal classifications: pre-monsoon, post-monsoon, southwest monsoon (SW), and northeast monsoon (NE). Using ArcGIS 10.8, the rainfall pattern was analysed, and spatial distribution maps for the four seasons listed above were created using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) approach. The region receives an average of 1456.78 mm of precipitation each year, with the post-monsoon, pre-monsoon, SW monsoon, and NE monsoon providing 32.87 mm, 335.28 mm, 538.67 mm, and 549.97 mm, respectively. The results reveal that the model correlates mean rainfall and rainfall variability over areas of Tamil Nadu's Kuzhithuraiyar sub-basin with some accuracy in terms of the number of rainfall extremes and their spatial distribution maps.