Trend analysis and forecast of precipitation, reference evapotranspiration, and rainfall deficit in the Blackland Prairie of eastern Mississippi

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  • Authors: Feng, Gary; Cobb, Stacy; Abdo, Zaid; Fisher, Daniel K.; Ouyang, Ying; Adeli, Ardeshir; Jenkins, Johnie N.
  • Publication Year: 2016
  • Publication Series: Scientific Journal (JRNL)
  • Source: Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
  • DOI: 10.1175/JAMC-D-15-0265.1

Abstract

Trend analysis and estimation of monthly and annual precipitation, reference evapotranspiration ET, and rainfall deficit are essential for water-resources management and cropping-system design. Rainfall, ET, and water-deficit patterns and trends at Macon in eastern Mississippi for a 120-yr period (1894-2014) were analyzed for annual, seasonal, and monthly periods. The analysis showed historical average annual rainfall, ET0, and dryness index (DI) in the location to be 1307 mm, 1210 mm, and 0.97, respectively. Monthly rainfall and ET, ranged from 72to118 mm and from 94to146 mm, respectively, between May and October, resulting in a monthly rain deficit from 22 to 62mm. Annual rainfall showed an increasing trend of l.17mmyr-1 while annual ET0 exhibited a decreasing trend of -0.51 mm yr-1, resulting in an annual DI reduction of 0.001 per year. Seasonal trends were found for rainfall in autumn (1.06mm yr-1), ET0 in summer (-0.29mm yr-1) and autumn (-0.18mm yr-1), and DI in autumn (- 0.006). An autoregressive, integrated, and moving-average (ARIMA) approach was used to model monthly and annual rainfall, ET, and DI and to predict those values in the future. Low values of the root-mean-square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (with both statistics being normalized to the mean of the observed values), low values of average percent bias, and low values of the ratio of the RMSE to the standard deviation of observed data, along with values of 1.0 for Naslh5utcliffe modeling efficiency and the index of agreement, all suggest that the performance of the models is acceptable. The ARIMA models forecast 1319 mm of mean annual rainfall, 1203 mm of mean annual ET, and 0.82 of mean annual DI from 2015 to 2024. The results obtained from this research can guide development of water-management practices and cropping systems in the area that rely on this weather station. The approaches used and the models fitted in this study can serve as a demonstration of how a time series trend can be analyzed and a model fitted at other locations.

  • Citation: Feng, Gary; Cobb, Stacy; Abdo, Zaid; Fisher, Daniel K.; Ouyang, Ying; Adeli, Ardeshir; Jenkins, Johnie N. 2016. Trend analysis and forecast of precipitation, reference evapotranspiration, and rainfall deficit in the Blackland Prairie of eastern Mississippi. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 55(7): 15 pages.: 1425-1439.  10.1175/JAMC-D-15-0265.1
  • Keywords: Mississippi, Reference ET, Rainfall, Trend Analysis
  • Posted Date: July 30, 2016
  • Modified Date: August 12, 2016

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