TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL RAINFALL VARIABILITY IN THE URBANIZED AREA OF CRACOW

Abstract

Aim of the study The aim of this study is to provide temporal-spatial characteristics of rainfall distribution variability in the Cracow area, based on the new method of determining spatial distribution, as well as establishing the areas of the highest and lowest rainfall variability as compared to a multi-annual period. Material and methods For the calculations, 10-minute precipitation data sequences were used from the period of 2013–2016 (recorded by the MPWiK’s precipitation monitoring system in Cracow; from 18 precipitation stations) as well as daily and monthly precipitation data sequences from the multi-annual period 1951–2018 (recorded at the Kraków-Obserwatorium station by the IMGW).The rainfalls observed in the period of 2013–2016 were compared to the rainfalls from the multi-annual period of 1951–2018 contrasting the average monthly and annual precipitation totals, as well as the maximum daily precipitation totals in the summer months. The comparison was made by calculating the degree of exceedance or subceedance of the average values in [%] in relation to the Kraków-Obserwatorium station, which was chosen as the benchmark. The last stage of the study was to create, in the geodata and geoinformation environment , bitmaps of spatial distribution of precipitation in the Cracow area. For drawing the isolines, the interpolation method was used. Results and conclusions That methodology: a) uses data from multiple precipitation stations in the researched area, b) allows for the comparison of precipitation quantities for a given period versus the data from the multi-annual period (utilizing a benchmark), c) continuously monitor precipitation variability occurring in the researched area.