Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY
Volume 36, Issue 11, Pages 3828-3838Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/joc.4596
Keywords
daily precipitation; Gini index; concentration index; n index; world
Categories
Funding
- Group of Climatology [2014 SGR 300]
- [CSO2014-55799-C2-1-R]
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The temporal concentration of precipitation may be characterized using several methods. For climate-scale precipitation, concentration measures are usually performed by means of dimensionless indices such as the Gini index (GI) or the Theil index. For the purposes of the present paper, a set of 66 409 daily time series from around the world were analysed to estimate the climatic concentration of precipitation. To this end, some of the most widely used indices were tested, i.e. the Theil index, the Gini index, the concentration index, the classic n index and an ordered version of the n index. Results show a strong connection between several indices, mainly between the GI and the ordered n index. The high correlation of these indices (R = 0.98) reflects a theoretical connection between the shape and integration of the Lorenz curve. With regard to spatial distribution, the three main indices present the same relative areas of high and low concentration. The high temporal concentration of precipitation is generally linked to the rapid pace of physical processes such as convection in areas with a high degree of insolation and warm seas. The low temporal concentration of rainfall can be interpreted as a consequence of regular patterns (maritime flows or highly recurrent storms). A relationship between the number of rainy days and concentration indices was noted; however, their correlation depends on the region analysed.
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