Hydroclimatic fluctuations of the upper Narmada catchment and its association with break monsoon days over India

Abstract

In this paper, hydroclimatic fluctuations of the Upper Narmada catchment (upto Narmadasagar damsite) have been studied by examining the time series (1901-80) of (i) 1-to 10-day annual extreme rainfall; (ii) seasonal total rainfall between May and October; (iii) the precipitation concentration index (PCI); (iv) a modified version of PCI(MPCI); and (v) parameters of the periods contributing specified percentages of rainfall to annual total. Most of these parameters followed the normal distribution and did not show any significant long¬term trend. However, some dominant long period oscillations have been noticed in extreme rainfall, seasonal rainfall, PCI and MPCI series. Influence of break-monsoon days over India during July and August on the rainfall activities of the Upper Narmada catchment has also been investigated and salient findings discussed.