1. Precipitation Climatology over the
Gandaki River Basin in Nepal
1Jeeban Panthi, 1Piyush Dahal, 2Ramchandra Karki
1The Small Earth Nepal, 2Dept of Hydrology and Meteorology

2. Data used
Source Format Duration
DHM ground
observation
Point 1981-2012
APHRODITE
(interpolated)
Grid (0.05°)
Grid (0.25°)
1961-2004
1961-2007

3. Precipitation stations from different agro-ecological
zones of the basin

4. Agro-ecological
Zones
Station
Index
Latitude Longitude Elevation Location District
Trans-Himalaya
(>2500m)
610 29.05 83.88 3465 Ghami Mustang
816 28.55 84.23 2680 Chame Manang
Mountain
(>2500m)
806 28.4 84.37 3650 Larke
Samdo
Gorkha
616 28.36 83.13 2530 Gurja
Khani
Myagdi
Hill
(500m-2500m)
814 28.18 83.48 1740 Lumle Kaski
1057 28.01 85.07 1240 Pansayak
hola
Nuwakot
808 27.93 84.42 965 Bandipur Tanahun
Lowland (Terai)
(<500m)
903 27.35 84.32 270 Jhawani Chitwan
920 27.55 84.82 274 Manahar
i
Makwanpur
Precipitation stations from different agro-ecological
zones of the basin

5. APHRODITE Validation (0.05°)
R² = 0.9221
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 100 200 300
R² = 0.9625
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
0 1000 2000 3000
R² = 0.9853
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
0 300 600 900 1200 1500
R² = 0.8276
0.0
200.0
400.0
600.0
800.0
1000.0
0.0 200.0 400.0 600.0 800.0 1000.0
Trans-Himalaya
Mountain
Hill Terai

6. APHRODITE Validation (0.25°)
R² = 0.6913
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 100 200 300
R² = 0.9743
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
0.0 1000.0 2000.0 3000.0
R² = 0.9321
0.0
300.0
600.0
900.0
1200.0
1500.0
0.0 500.0 1000.0 1500.0
R² = 0.8882
0.0
200.0
400.0
600.0
800.0
1000.0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Trans-Himalaya Mountain
Hill Terai

7. Monthly variation of precipitation
0.0
100.0
200.0
300.0
400.0
500.0
600.0
700.0
800.0
900.0
1000.0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Monthlyprecipitation(mm)
Terai Hill Mountain Trans-Himalaya

8. Precipitation distribution - spatial
Annual Monsoon
Post monsoon Winter Pre-monsoon

9. Annual Change in Precipitation (mm)
Agro-ecological
zone
Winter
Pre-
monsoon
Monsoon Post-monsoon Annual
Trans-Himalaya -0.619 -1.022 1.898 -0.927* -1.654
Mountain -4.717*** -4.675** 2.586 -0.713 -6.293
Hill -0.425+ -0.218 3.233 -0.128 2.745
Terai -0.580 0.908 0.168 -0.435 -0.362
Average basin -1.458** -1.987* 0.419 -0.619 -4.267
Significant at: *** -> 0.001, ** -> 0.01, * -> 0.05, + -> 0.1
Methodology: Sen’s slope and MK test

10. Precipitation Anomaly

11. Trend of Rainy Days
y = -0.133x + 281.16
y = 0.3473x - 587.4
y = 0.0645x - 23.471
y = -0.202x + 462.17
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
Numberofrainydays
Number of Rainy Days around GRB (>2.5mm in a day)
Trans Himalaya Mountain Hill Terai

12. Monsoon timing
y = -0.0864x + 41975
y = 0.3461x + 41218
y = 0.4325x - 756.97
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
21-May
10-Jun
30-Jun
20-Jul
09-Aug
29-Aug
18-Sep
08-Oct
28-Oct
1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010
Monsoonduration(Days)
Monsoon onset Monsoon withdrawl Monsoon duration

13. Livelihood vulnerability assessment
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
Socio-demogaphic
profile
Livelihood strategies
Social network
Health
Food
Water
Natural disaster
Climate variability
Dhading Syangja Kapilvastu

14. Conclusion
• Dry seasons and regions are getting dryer
• Precipitation is decreasing in recent decades
• Rainy days are decreasing
• Monsoon withdrawal is getting delayed

15. Landuse and livestock distribution
Landuse in the Gandaki river basin (GRB)
Livestock distribution in the GRB

17. Thank you