Spatial analysis of temporal trend of rainfall and rainy days during the Indian Summer Monsoon season using daily gridded (0.5° × 0.5°) rainfall data for the period of 1971-2005

Abstract

Daily gridded (0.5° × 0.5°) rainfall data between 1971 and 2005 were used to detect spatial patterns of trend in rainfall and rainy days during the Indian Summer Monsoon (June to September). A non-parametric (Mann–Kendall test) method was used to test for monotonic trend at each grid level. The magnitude of trend is estimated using Sen's method. Further, a field significance test was applied to assess significant trend at an aggregated level over each meteorological subdivision. A statistically significant (α = 0.1) increasing trend of both rainfall and rainy days during the monsoon season was found over the east coast and Deccan Plateau region of India. Meteorological subdivisions over the west coast, western arid region and northeastern humid region showed significantly decreasing trends in both rainfall and rainy days. The northern hilly parts of the Himalaya were found to have a significantly increasing trend of rainfall but decreasing trend of rainy days. The north and central plains of India showed a decreasing trend of rainy days and the eastern plain was found to have a decreasing trend of rainfall during the summer monsoon period. Copyright © 2013 Royal Meteorological Society