Precipitation Inequality over Ukraine

Abstract

Aims: The aim of the paper is to study the annual and seasonal precipitation inequality over Ukraine in the last 55 years and to discuss their trends. Place and Duration of Study: Marine Hydrophysical Institute of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (MHI NASU), Sevastopol, Ukraine. Air-Sea Interaction Department, January 2012 - June 2013. Methodology: Concentration index (CI) method was used to analyze a precipitation inequality over Ukraine and standard statistical procedures. Results: The annual values of concentration index ranges from 0.54 to 0.71 over Ukraine. It increases in southward direction from north-west and north-east of the country. Seasonal scale is characterized by CI maximum values in spring (0.71) in the south-west regions. Linear CI trends above Ukraine are predominantly negative; the positive ones are typical for south-east region. Conclusion: It was shown that the typical space structure of precipitation inequality over Ukraine is characterized by southward CI increasing during annual and all seasons for 1951 - 2005 from the north-west and north-east region. At the same time, linear trends are characterized mostly by a negative sign in all seasons. That indicates a reduction of daily precipitation inequality in the last 55 years associated with low-frequency processes in the global climate system.