Event

The Physics Department hosts the M.Phil. Assessment Seminar of Ms. Sharlene Beharry, on Wednesday 22^nd June, 2011, at 10 am, at the Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 3rd Floor, Room 326.  

Ms. Beharry will present on the topic, “The Variability of Trinidad and Tobago’s Rainfall using 16 Stations.” 

Abstract

To obtain a better understanding of the climate of Trinidad and Tobago, climatic parameters such as rainfall and temperature should be taken from stations evenly distributed over the twin islands. After a review of previous studies on these parameters, the methods used included: comparisons of the mean and standard deviations between stations to describe the rainfall, percentage probability to predict the rainfall, variance spectrum in the investigation of oscillations and linear extrapolation for trend analysis. The question therefore arises, is there a change in the variability of Trinidad and Tobago’s climate with respect to an increasing trend or a decreasing trend, or sudden changes in rainfall and temperature?    

High quality continuous data sets, with the least amount of missing data are required for such analyses. There were 206 available rainfall data sets from Trinidad and Tobago, with 16 stations, having 30 years and more of continuous data with less than 10% missing data. Hence these were selected for the analysis. Non parametric methods were employed to detect the evidence of any statistically significant, monotonic changes or sudden changes in these 16 stations. Monthly data sets for both rainfall and temperature are being analysed. However, in this presentation the rainfall analyses will be presented and discussed.