Abstract:

The application of harmonic analysis to the annual variability of precipitation is the object of this study, so that the modes, which compose the annual variability, be elicited. For this purpose, monthly precipitation totals from 30 meteorological stations of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS), for the period 1950-2000, were used. The initial target is to reduce the number of variables and to detect structure in the relationships between the variables. The most commonly used technique for this purpose is the application of Factor Analysis (FA) resulted in five main factors (sub-regions) with common precipitation characteristics, explaining 77% of the total variance. For each sub-region, a representative station is selected for the analyses, mainly, as the station within the sub-region with the highest factor loading. In the process, the Fourier Analysis is applied to the mean monthly precipitation, so that 2 harmonic components are derived, which explain more than 90% of the total variability of each station, and are due to different synoptic and thermodynamic processes associated with Greece's precipitation regime. Finally the calculation of the time of the maximum precipitation, for each harmonic component, gives the spatial distribution of the appearance of the maximum precipitation in the Greek region.

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Cited By :4Export Date: 2 November 2015Correspondence Address: Nastos, P. T.; Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece; email: nastos@geol.uoa.grReferences: Bartzokas, A., Lolis, C.J., Metaxas, D.A., A study of the intra-Annual variation and the spatial distribution of precipitation amount and duration over Greece on a 10 day basis (2003) Int. J. Climatol., 23, pp. 207-222;Bloutsos, A.A., Harmonic analysis of the annual variation of precipitation over Greece (1993) Water Deficiency and Floods, Symposium Organized by the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece, pp. 181-191. , Thessaloniki, 17-18 March 1992, (in Greek); Brunetti, M., Maugeri, M., Monti, F., Nanni, T., Changes in daily precipitation frequency and distribution in Italy over the last 120 years (2004) J. Geophys. Res., 109, pp. D05102. , doi:10.1029/2003JD004296; Conrad, V., Pollak, L.W., (1950) Methods in Climatology, pp. 118-133. , Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Fotiadi, A.K., Metaxas, D.A., Bartzokas, A., A statistical study of precipitation in NW Greece (1999) Int. J. Climatol., 19, pp. 1221-1232; Jolliffe, I.T., (1986) Principal Component Analysis, , Springer-Verlag New York; Kotini-Zabaka, S., (1983) Contribution to the Study of the Climate of Greece, , Normal weather per month Publication of the Research Centre of Climatology of the Academy of Athens Publication no. 8, ( in Greek); Livada, I., Assimakopoulos, V.D., Spatial and temporal analysis of drought in Greece using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) (2007) Theor. Appl. Climatol., 89, pp. 143-153; Loukas, A., Vasiliades, L., Dalezios, N.R., Domenikiotis, C., Rainfal-Frequency mapping for Greece (2001) Phys. Chem. Earth Pt. B, 26 (9), pp. 669-674; Maheras, P., La variabilite des precipitations dans la mer Egee (1981) Archiv. Met. Geoph. Bioklim., 29, pp. 157-166. , Series B; Manly, B.F.J., (1986) Multivatiate Statistical Methods: A Primer, , Chapman & Hall, London; Mantis, H.T., Repapis, C.C., Philandras, C.M., Paliatsos, A.G., Amanatidis, G.T., The spatial and temporal structure of the precipitation climate the Eastern Mediterranean; Background for a study of Climate Change (1994) EUR 17458-Eastern Europe and Global Change Kassandra, Halkidiki, Greece, pp. 125-131. , edited by: Ghazi, A., Mathy, P., and Zerefos, C. 3-10 October 1994; Metaxas, D.A., Philandras, C.M., Nastos, P.T., Repapis, C.C., Variability of precipitation pattern in Greece during the year (1999) Fresen. Environ. Bull., 8, pp. 1-6; Nastos, P.T., Changements de la pluviosite en region Hellenique pendant la periode 1858-1992 (1993) Proceedings of the 6th Colloque International de Climatologie, 6, pp. 183-190. , 22-25 September 1993, Thessaloniki, Greece; Nastos, P.T., Zerefos, C.S., Decadal changes in extreme daily precipitation in Greece (2008) Adv. Geosci., 16, pp. 55-62. , http://www.adv-geosci.net/16/55/2008/; Nastos, P.T., Philandras, C.M., Repapis, C.C., Application of canonical analysis to air temperature and precipitation regimes over Greece (2002) Fresen. Environ. Bull., 11 (8), pp. 488-493; Repapis, C.C., Temporal fluctuations of precipitation in Greece (1986) Rivista Meteor. Aeron., 46 (1-2), pp. 19-25; Richman, M.B., Rotation of principal components (1986) J. Climatol., 6, pp. 293-335

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