Analysis of Rainfall Distribution in Puri District of Odisha

Abstract

The distribution of rainfall always varies with time. As a result, there is
occurrence of drought, abnormal and normal months with respect to amount of rainfall in
different years. This necessitates the statistical assessment of rainfall probability. Puri district
lies in the coastal region of Odisha. The study of rainfall pattern in Puri district is of utmost
important for proper planning of the crops due to the random nature of rainfall pattern. The
probability distribution of drought, normal and abnormal rainfall at Puri district of
Odisha is studied monthly and seasonally from rainfall data for period of 20 years (1997-98
to 2016-17). The month in which the monthly rainfall is less than half of mean monthly
rainfall is regarded as drought month. The month in which the monthly rainfall is more than
twice the mean monthly rainfall is regarded as abnormal month and the month in which the
monthly rainfall is in between half and twice of the mean monthly rainfall is regarded as
normal month. During kharif season (June – September) the probability of normal rainfall
remains high and the probability of occurrence of drought months is very low. The probability
of drought months remains high in rabi season, whereas, in summer season the probability of
abnormal months remains high. The Coefficient of Variation of rainfall is less in wet months
i.e. months having more rainfall and is high in dry months i.e. months having very less
rainfall. Thus, it can be concluded that the degree of uncertainty of rainfall increases in dry
months and the wet months have high degree of certainty in occurrence of rainfall.