Variation in the orographic extreme rain events over the Meghalaya Hills in northeast India in the two halves of the twentieth century

Prokop, Paweł; Walanus, Adam

doi:10.1007/s00704-014-1224-x

Cited by 57 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Northeast India (NEI) receives the highest amount of rainfall in the world during the monsoon season (i.e., June to September; Mahanta et al, 2013;Prokop & Walanus, 2015). However, NEI is experiencing a rapid drying in the last three decades (Guhathakurta & Rajeevan, 2008;Konwar et al, 2012;Preethi et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid Drying of Northeast India in the Last Three Decades: Climate Change or Natural Variability?

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Northeast India (NEI), the wettest place on the Earth, has experienced a rapid decrease in summer monsoon rainfall (about 355 mm) in the last 36 years (1979–2014), which has serious implications on the ecosystem and the livelihood of the people of this region. However, it is not clear whether the observed drying is due to anthropogenic activities or it is linked with the global natural variability. A diagnostic model is employed to estimate the amount of recycled rainfall, which suggests that about 7% of the total rainfall is contributed by the local moisture recycling and decrease in recycled rainfall is about 30–50 mm. Using gridded observed rainfall and sea surface temperature data of the last 114 years (1901–2014), here we show that the recent decreasing trend of NEI summer monsoon rainfall is rather associated with the strong interdecadal variability of the subtropical Pacific Ocean. The strong interdecadal variability over NEI suggests a possibility of skillful decadal prediction of the monsoon rainfall, which may have important implications in terms of long‐term planning and mitigation.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid Drying of Northeast India in the Last Three Decades: Climate Change or Natural Variability?

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The other locations in NER and its adjoining areas still remain unexplored, although this region hosts the world's highest rainfall locations: Cherrapunji and Mawsynram (Soja et al, ). Reports on significant increases in the frequency of extreme rainfall events and a reduction in low and moderate events in the summer monsoon over Meghalaya Plateau, including Cherrapunji, are available (Prokop and Walanus, , and references therein). Further, decreasing trends of monsoon precipitation have been reported by Konwar et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosols characteristics, trends and their climatic implications over Northeast India and adjoining South Asia

Dahutia

Pathak

Bhuyan

2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aerosol characteristics and climatic implications derived for selected locations of the north‐eastern region of India and adjoining locations Thimphu (THM), Dhaka (DAC) and Banmauk between 22–30°N and 88–98°E are reported. The region is found to reveal a distinct spatio‐temporal variability in aerosol distribution, with highest climatological mean aerosol optical depth at 550 nm (AOD550) at DAC (0.65 ± 0.07) and lowest at the high altitude location THM (0.19 ± 0.02). Seasonally the maximum AOD550 is observed in the pre‐monsoon season. Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer Level‐3 Collection 6 AOD550 and Ångström exponent (AE) exhibit a significant and simultaneous increasing trend in the range of ∼0.003 year−1 to 0.012 year−1 and ∼−0.001 year−1 to 0.020 year−1, respectively, during the period 2001–2014. Together with AE, increasing trend of total ozone mapping spectrometer and ozone monitoring instrument‐retrieved aerosol index (∼0.001 year−1 to 0.007 year−1 during 1979–2014) signifies an increase in anthropogenic aerosol loading, leading to an increase in number density of cloud condensation nuclei and decrease/increase of cloud effective radius /cloud optical depth (COD). This is further associated with overall decreasing trends of rainfall rate over this complex monsoon region. A slow increase in maximum temperature (Tmax) (∼0.008 °C year−1 to 0.049 °C year−1) compared to that in minimum temperature (Tmin) (∼0.007 °C year−1 to 0.068 °C year−1) is attributed to solar dimming due to increasing aerosol loading and COD (∼0.056 year−1 to 0.15 year−1). A decrease in high‐level cloud (CODhigh) counteracts decreasing trends of ground reaching solar radiation over a few locations, including Dibrugarh. This study is important from an aerosol radiation interaction and aerosol cloud interaction viewpoint, which facilitates in reaching a closure of model simulated present day climate change and future climate projections.

show abstract

“…In the most elevated parts of the plateau, including both study catchments, temperatures fall below 0 °C in winter. Mean annual rainfall reaches 2,400 mm at Shillong and ranges from 1,300 to 3,800 mm (1901–2010), with 80% of rainfall concentrated during monsoon season between June and September (Prokop & Walanus, ).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphological and sedimentological indicators of land degradation (Meghalaya Plateau, NE India)

2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Replacement of forests by cultivation in hilly regions can dramatically increase overland flow and soil erosion, frequently resulting in land degradation. This study aimed to determine the impact of long‐term human activity and natural geomorphic processes in land degradation of 2 catchments located in the Meghalaya Plateau in northeast India. Both catchments are built by deeply weathered granites with hilly topography but have contrasting land uses. Forested catchment (1.5 ha) is covered by natural deciduous forest, whereas deforested catchment (3.5 ha) is affected by slash and burn cultivation and boulder extraction. Detailed geomorphological mapping and sediment pattern analysis revealed a complex anthropogenic role in land degradation. Human activity contributes directly to the creation of new landforms in the deforested catchment and indirectly by influencing the course and intensity of geomorphological processes, masking the pre‐existing natural relief. Discontinuous agricultural terraces, zero‐order valleys, and furrows created coexisting cascade system and direct connectivity of water and sediment transport within the same slope. Higher content of fine‐grained material and lower content of boulders in the deforested catchment reflect overlapping of 2 traditional occupations of the local population: agriculture and selective boulders extraction, respectively. Human activity combined with accelerated erosion of abundant weathered material led to the transformation of incised valley bottom into flat accumulation plain as well as the extension and aggradation of the alluvial fan. This process increased the proportion of flat landforms favourable for cultivating the deforested catchment under growing population pressure.

show abstract

Variation in the orographic extreme rain events over the Meghalaya Hills in northeast India in the two halves of the twentieth century

Cited by 57 publications

References 51 publications

Rapid Drying of Northeast India in the Last Three Decades: Climate Change or Natural Variability?

Rapid Drying of Northeast India in the Last Three Decades: Climate Change or Natural Variability?

Aerosols characteristics, trends and their climatic implications over Northeast India and adjoining South Asia

Geomorphological and sedimentological indicators of land degradation (Meghalaya Plateau, NE India)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About