Variability and trends in temperature, precipitation and discharge in a lesser Himalayan watershed
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06/03/2010
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Kurukshetra University
This document contains the presentation by Omvir Singh, Anil Beniwal, Milap C. Sharma & et al on Variability and trends in temperature, precipitation and discharge in a lesser Himalayan watershed, presented at National Climate Research Conference, IIT Delhi, March 5-6, 2010.
Climate change and global warming arising from the anthropogenic-driven emissions of greenhouse gases have emerged in the last two decades as one of the most serious environmental issues ever to confront humanity. The detection of trends in hydro climatic data, in particular temperature, precipitation and stream flow, is essential for the assessment of the impacts of climate variability and change on the water resources of a region. Therefore, this study has been embarked to examine the variability and trends in hydrometeorological time series in a Lesser Himalayan watershed of the Himachal Pradesh state. Historical trends in precipitation, temperature and stream flows have been examined using regression analysis and Mann-Kendall (MK) statistics. The study indicates a significantly decreasing average annual, seasonal and monthly discharge from the watershed system. Both parametric and non-parametric tests showed that this trend was significant at 95% of confidence level. This declining trend in the discharge of the watershed is largely attributed to decreasing monsoonal rainfall, the waning of the small glaciers and ice patches to a large extent. Moreover, this reduction in water availability from the watershed will influence agricultural activities in the downstream areas and thus affecting local as well as national economy. Also, both temperature and rainfall have coinstantaneously increased. Moreover, analysis of time series data from the watershed revealed notably upward trends in winter temperature. Increase in temperature has further depleted the glacial and snow bound area in the watershed from 1963 through 2006.
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