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Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science SocietyJournal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science Society
A journal for meteorology, climate, oceanography, hydrology and space weather focused on the southern hemisphere
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Spatiotemporal variability of monthly precipitation concentration in Argentina

María Paula Llano https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1152-8543 A B *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y los Océanos – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

B Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas – CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

* Correspondence to: mpllano@at.fcen.uba.ar

Handling Editor: Anita Drumond

Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science 73(2) 168-177 https://doi.org/10.1071/ES22040
Submitted: 13 December 2022  Accepted: 2 June 2023   Published: 22 June 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Bureau of Meteorology. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Studies of the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation concentration are necessary. This variability is a significant climate element and also a critical socioeconomic factor. This study aims to contribute to the knowledge of rainfall in Argentina using records of monthly precipitation for 64 stations (period 1991–2021) to calculate the monthly precipitation concentration index (PCI). Precipitation in Argentina, given its vast territory, presents a great variability with a wide range of rainfall regimes; the range of PCI values is 10.6–27.3. Values of PCI range from uniform distribution (less than 10) to strong irregularity of precipitation distribution (greater than 20). The north-west of the country shows a high concentration and the south has a low concentration. Analysis shows that the majority of the stations have positive trends in PCI (although not significant), and this increase in concentration of precipitation could become a risk depending on the evolution of the associated rain.

Keywords: Argentina, climate indices, distribution, monthly precipitation, precipitation concentration index, trends, variability.


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