Temporal and spatial variation of annual rainfall on the island of Crete, Greece

• Published in: Hydrological processes Vol. 17; no. 10; pp. 1899 - 1922
• Main Authors: Naoum, S., Tsanis, I. K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-07-2003; Wiley
• Subjects: Areal geology. Maps; Crete; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Geologic maps, cartography; GIS; Hydrology; Hydrology. Hydrogeology; orographic precipitation; outliers; return period; Greece; Southern Europe; Crete; Greece, Kriti; models; rainfall; time variations; atmospheric precipitation; Europe; kriging; orographic precipitation; regression analysis; digital elevation models; geographic information systems; outliers; drainage divide; networks; frequency; surface water; GIS; drainage basins; interpolation; correlation; return period; spatial variations
• ISSN: 0885-6087; 1099-1085
• DOI: 10.1002/hyp.1217

Annual rainfall records from the island of Crete in Greece were used with the aid of a geographical information system (GIS) to study the temporal and spatial rainfall characteristics. The GIS was used to produce a digital elevation model, delineate watersheds and estimate the areal rainfall from a network of raingauges by using different interpolation schemes. The rainfall–elevation correlation was significant, suggesting an orographic type of precipitation for the island. The rainfall records for the majority of the stations were found to fit the normal distribution. Deviation from normal for the rest of the records was attributed to the wettest year of 1977–1978. The year 1989–1990 was the driest, and most rainfall records showed a decrease in rainfall over 30 years with higher negative rainfall gradients at the higher elevations. Frequency analysis of the rainfall records was used to estimate areal rainfall for the island of Crete and its main watersheds for return periods of 2, 5 and 10 years. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.