2019/08/06 by Solomon H. Gebrechorkos, Stephan Hülsmann, Christian Bernhofer · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Biology #Climate change #Climate variability and models #Climatology #Ecology #Environmental science #Geography #Geology #High resolution #Hydrology and Drought Analysis #Precipitation Measurement and Analysis #Remote sensing #Term (time)
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47933-8
openalex publication_date 2019/08/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
Detecting changes in climate is a prerequisite for a better understanding of the climate and developing adaptation and mitigation measures at a regional and local scale. In this study long-term trends in rainfall and maximum and minimum temperature (T-max and T-min) were analysed on seasonal and annual time scales for East Africa. High resolution gridded rainfall (1981-2016) and temperature (1979-2010) data from international databases like the Climate Hazards Group are used. Long-term seasonal trend analysis shows a non-significant (except for small areas), decreasing (increasing) trend in rainfall in eastern (western) parts of Ethiopia and Kenya and a decreasing trend in large parts of Tanzania during the long rainy season. On the other hand, a non-significant increasing trend in large parts of the region is observed during the short rain season. With regard to annual trends, results largely confirm seasonal analyses: only a few significant trends in rainfall, but significant increasing trends in T-max (up to 1.9 °C) and T-min (up to 1.2 °C) for virtually the whole region. Our results demonstrate the need and added value of analysing climate trends based on data with high spatial resolution allowing sustainable adaptation measures at local scales.