Abstract
Understanding temporal and spatial characteristics of regional climate is essential for decision making in water resource management. Established statistical and GIS techniques were used to evaluate annual and seasonal variations of rainfall and temperature in time and space from 1979 to 2013 in the Limpopo River Basin (LRB). Annual means of rainfall in the LRB varied between 160 and 1109 mm, generally from west to east of the basin during the study period. Annual minimum and maximum temperature ranged from 8 °C in the south to 20 °C in the east of the basin, and 23 °C in the south of the basin to 32 °C in the east. The respective coefficients of variation (CVs) of these variables showed an inverse pattern to the annual values, with rainfall having high CV values (28% to 70% from east to west of the basin) compared to temperature CV values. Seasonal variations followed similar patterns as annual variations for the individual variables examined. Trend analysis showed upward trends for both annual and seasonal rainfall in most parts of the basin, except for the winter season which showed a decreasing trend. Analysis of minimum temperature on an annual basis and for the winter season and spring season shows upward trends during the study period over the whole basin while minimum temperature for summer and autumn showed decreasing trends. Maximum temperature, by contrast, showed decreasing trends on an annual, summer, autumn, and spring basis but an increasing trend for winter during the study period in most parts of the basin.
Highlights
IntroductionWater is an important resource for the economic and social well-being of humankind [1,2]
Water is an important resource for the economic and social well-being of humankind [1,2].In semi-arid regions such as the Limpopo River Basin (LRB), adequate water supply to support agriculture, industry, and domestic use is an enduring problem
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events have been linked to drought and flood events in Southern Africa [6,7]
Summary
Water is an important resource for the economic and social well-being of humankind [1,2]. In semi-arid regions such as the LRB, adequate water supply to support agriculture, industry, and domestic use is an enduring problem. Water scarcity in the LRB is the result of the basin’s highly variable climate, typified by frequent extreme seasonality, intense El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Events, and interactions with oceanic climates from both Atlantic and Indian Oceans, that render rainfall and runoff unreliable in the basin [3,4,5]. The ENSO events have been linked to drought and flood events in Southern Africa [6,7]. For the past two decades, the LRB experienced some of the most damaging droughts [8,9,10].
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