engleski

Influence of precipitation variability on water availability in the Croatian Littoral Area

One of the most important features of precipitation is its variability. In this paper the influence of precipitation variability on water availability in the Croatian Littoral Area is researched. Precipitation variability is determined for 1950-2007 period using data for 18 stations. Yearly, monthly and season values of precipitation variability are spatially interpolated using GIS software in order to analyse the geographical distribution of precipitation variability in the researched area. The impact of precipitation variability on water availability is most significant in warm period of the year, when the demand for water is at its peak, mostly due to increased consumption in tourism, agriculture and water supply. Shortage of summer precipitation has negative impact on vegetation, as well as crop plants, and can also increase the risk of fire, which in the end affects tourism. Therefore, more attention is dedicated to the precipitation variability in warm part of the year. Two areas with higher values of precipitation variability are obtained – the southern part of littoral area, especially offshore islands (stations Lastovo and Hvar) and Bay of Kvarner. Maximum of precipitation variability for most of researched stations is between July and September. Since in this period occur main minimum in annual course of precipitation, increased variability has enhanced impact on water availability. Also, the influence of karst underground circulation must be taken into consideration since certain amount of water flows underground and it is not available for vegetation and human usage. For that reason the effective precipitation in the researched area is lower than in areas that has impermeable surface, which makes the understanding of precipitation variability even more important.

summer precipitation; precipitation variability; water availability; Croatian Littoral Area

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