Spatial Characteristics of Precipitation in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area as Revealed by the Daily Precipitation Concentration Index

Abstract

In this study; the spatial distribution of the Daily Precipitation Concentration Index (DPCI) has been analyzed inside the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area (GSMA). Accordingly, the rainfall database from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology archive was utilized after comprehensive quality control. The compiled data contains a set of 41 rainfall stations indicating consistent daily precipitation series from 1950 to 2015. In the analysis of the DPCI across GSMA the techniques of Moran’s Spatial Autocorrelation has been applied. In addition, a cross-covariance method was applied to assess the spatial interdependency between vector-based datasets after performing an Ordinary Kriging interpolation. The results identify four well-recognized intense rainfall development zones: the south coast and topographic areas of the Illawarra district characterized by Tasman Sea coastal regions with DPCI values ranging from 0.61 to 0.63, the western highlands of the Blue Mountains, with values between 0.60 and 0.62, the inland regions, with lowest rainfall concentrations between 0.55 and 0.59, and lastly the districts located inside the GSMA with DPCI ranging 0.60 to 0.61. Such spatial distribution has revealed the rainstorm and severe thunderstorm activity in the area. This study applies the present models to identify the nature and mechanisms underlying the distribution of torrential rains over space within the metropolis of Sydney, and to monitor any changes in the spatial pattern under the warming climate.

Regional variation of climatological cloudburst frequency estimated from historical observations of daily precipitation sums

“…A value of corresponds to a random distribution of anomalies while corresponds to clustering in two separate clusters of positive and negative anomalies, respectively, and, finally, corresponds to “anti‐clustering,” where positive anomalies are preferably surrounded by negative ones and vice versa. Moran's index has previously been used by Cheung et al (2021) and Darand et al (2017) for analysing patterns of extreme precipitation.…”

Emerging Hydro-Climatic Patterns, Teleconnections, and Extreme Events in Changing World at Different Timescales

“…There are three papers related to this topic. Kevin K. W. Cheung [7] analyzed the spatial distribution of the daily precipitation concentration index inside the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area using Moran's spatial autocorrelation. The spatial distribution has revealed the nature and mechanisms underlying the distribution of torrential rains over space within the metropolis of Sydney under the warming climate.…”