Analysis of behaviour and relationship of four daily precipitation concentration indices according to Mexico's precipitation

• Published in: International journal of climatology 2021-06, Vol.41 (7), p.3903-3917
• Main Author: Núñez‐González, Gerardo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Atmospheric precipitations; concentration indices; Correlation analysis; Daily precipitation; Drinking water; Economic activities; Pearson correlation coefficient; Performance evaluation; Precipitation; precipitation concentration; Rain; Rainfall; Spatial analysis; Variability; Water supply
• ISSN: 0899-8418; 1097-0088
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.7049

In recent years, the field of precipitation concentration has garnered significant research interest owing to the importance of precipitation for economic activities related to agriculture, energy production, and drinking water supply management. For the study and characterization of precipitation concentration, different approaches have been defined, such as consideration of the concentration index (CI), Theil index (TI), Q index (QI), and precipitation concentration degree (PCD) index. However, in the literature, there is only one study that evaluates the performance of the CI and TI in conjunction on a spatial basis. Another study evaluates the behaviour of the QI and PCD indices on a temporal basis. Thus, the objective of this work was to analyse the behaviour of the four indices both on temporal and spatial scales according to Mexico's precipitation. Results show that the four indices can detect, in a similar manner, the concentration degree of regions with different rainfall regimes, each within its own variability. A lower range of variability was found for the TI, while the highest was found for the CI and the PCD index. In addition, the PCD index showed high sensitivity within its concentration degree when calculated for different time intervals. The results of the temporal and spatial correlation analysis show a very high correlation between the CI and TI, and moderate and low correlations among the other indices. Low correlations can be attributed to the differences in the theoretical bases of each index. Although low correlations were shown for some indices, the results indicate that these can be used in a complementary manner to improve the precipitation concentration analysis on temporal and spatial scales. The four indices have the ability to detect in a similar manner the concentration degree of regions with different rainfall regimes, although each of them within its own variability. PCD index shows significant differences when it is calculated for the summer showing their high sensitivity to the time aggregation intervals. The results of the temporal and spatial correlation analysis show a strong correlation between CI and TI index and moderate and lows correlations for other indices.