Rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular Malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set

Daily gridded rainfall data over Peninsular Malaysia are delineated using an objective clustering algorithm, with the objective of classifying rainfall grids into groups of homogeneous regions based on the similarity of the rainfall annual cycles. It has been demonstrated that Peninsular Malaysia ca...

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Main Authors: Wong, Chee Loong, Lieu, Juneng, Yusop, Zulkifli, Ismail, Tarmizi, Venneker, Raymond, Uhlenbrook, Stefen
Format: Article
Published: MDPI AG 2016
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Online Access:http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/67087/
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w8110500
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spelling my.utm.670872017-11-20T08:52:06Z http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/67087/ Rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular Malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set Wong, Chee Loong Lieu, Juneng Yusop, Zulkifli Ismail, Tarmizi Venneker, Raymond Uhlenbrook, Stefen TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) Daily gridded rainfall data over Peninsular Malaysia are delineated using an objective clustering algorithm, with the objective of classifying rainfall grids into groups of homogeneous regions based on the similarity of the rainfall annual cycles. It has been demonstrated that Peninsular Malaysia can be statistically delineated into eight distinct rainfall regions. This delineation is closely associated with the topographic and geographic characteristics. The variation of rainfall over the Peninsula is generally characterized by bimodal variations with two peaks, i.e., a primary peak occurring during the autumn transitional period and a secondary peak during the spring transitional period. The east coast zones, however, showed a single peak during the northeast monsoon (NEM). The influence of NEM is stronger compared to the southwest monsoon (SWM). Significantly increasing rainfall trends at 95% confidence level are not observed in all regions during the NEM, with exception of northwest zone (R1) and coastal band of west coast interior region (R3). During SWM, most areas have become drier over the last three decades. The study identifies higher variation of mean monthly rainfall over the east coast regions, but spatially, the rainfall is uniformly distributed. For the southwestern coast and west coast regions, a larger range of coefficients of variation is mostly obtained during the NEM, and to a smaller extent during the SWM. The inland region received least rainfall in February, but showed the largest spatial variation. The relationship between rainfall and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was examined based on the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI). Although the concurrent relationships between rainfall in the different regions and ENSO are generally weak with negative correlations, the rainfall shows stronger positive correlation with preceding ENSO signals with a time lag of four to eight months MDPI AG 2016-01-11 Article PeerReviewed Wong, Chee Loong and Lieu, Juneng and Yusop, Zulkifli and Ismail, Tarmizi and Venneker, Raymond and Uhlenbrook, Stefen (2016) Rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular Malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set. Water, 8 (11). p. 500. ISSN 2073-4441 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w8110500
institution Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
building UTM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
content_source UTM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://eprints.utm.my/
topic TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
spellingShingle TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Wong, Chee Loong
Lieu, Juneng
Yusop, Zulkifli
Ismail, Tarmizi
Venneker, Raymond
Uhlenbrook, Stefen
Rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular Malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set
description Daily gridded rainfall data over Peninsular Malaysia are delineated using an objective clustering algorithm, with the objective of classifying rainfall grids into groups of homogeneous regions based on the similarity of the rainfall annual cycles. It has been demonstrated that Peninsular Malaysia can be statistically delineated into eight distinct rainfall regions. This delineation is closely associated with the topographic and geographic characteristics. The variation of rainfall over the Peninsula is generally characterized by bimodal variations with two peaks, i.e., a primary peak occurring during the autumn transitional period and a secondary peak during the spring transitional period. The east coast zones, however, showed a single peak during the northeast monsoon (NEM). The influence of NEM is stronger compared to the southwest monsoon (SWM). Significantly increasing rainfall trends at 95% confidence level are not observed in all regions during the NEM, with exception of northwest zone (R1) and coastal band of west coast interior region (R3). During SWM, most areas have become drier over the last three decades. The study identifies higher variation of mean monthly rainfall over the east coast regions, but spatially, the rainfall is uniformly distributed. For the southwestern coast and west coast regions, a larger range of coefficients of variation is mostly obtained during the NEM, and to a smaller extent during the SWM. The inland region received least rainfall in February, but showed the largest spatial variation. The relationship between rainfall and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was examined based on the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI). Although the concurrent relationships between rainfall in the different regions and ENSO are generally weak with negative correlations, the rainfall shows stronger positive correlation with preceding ENSO signals with a time lag of four to eight months
format Article
author Wong, Chee Loong
Lieu, Juneng
Yusop, Zulkifli
Ismail, Tarmizi
Venneker, Raymond
Uhlenbrook, Stefen
author_facet Wong, Chee Loong
Lieu, Juneng
Yusop, Zulkifli
Ismail, Tarmizi
Venneker, Raymond
Uhlenbrook, Stefen
author_sort Wong, Chee Loong
title Rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular Malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set
title_short Rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular Malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set
title_full Rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular Malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set
title_fullStr Rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular Malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set
title_full_unstemmed Rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular Malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set
title_sort rainfall characteristics and regionalization in peninsular malaysia based on a high resolution gridded data set
publisher MDPI AG
publishDate 2016
url http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/67087/
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w8110500
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score 13.211869