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Relationships between raindays, mean daily intensity and monthly rainfall in the tropics

1986; Wiley; Volume: 6; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/joc.3370060202

2374-7412

I. G. Jackson,

Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research

Abstract There are limitations in using monthly rainfall totals in studies of rainfall climatology as well as in hydrological and agricultural investigations. Analysis of data for a range of tropical rainfall stations suggests that a better relationship exists between monthly rainfall and number of rain days than between monthly rainfall and mean daily rainfall intensity. In the former case, a logarithmic relationship is most appropriate, whereas for the latter a linear form is adopted. Deviations from the relationships show contrasts between stations and also within seasons at individual stations, suggesting the need for caution in attempting to generalize about tropical rainfall conditions. For some stations and at the start of rainy seasons, the two parameters examined suggest that the character of rainfall may create agricultural and hydrological problems greater than monthly totals suggest.