Abstract
The spatial distribution of the regional long-term rate of precipitation change, ΔP, with altitude in Switzerland is analysed. In order to eliminate the bias of point precipitation measurement, the analysis is based on precipitation sums corrected for the systematic error of precipitation measurement, particularly the wind-induced error and wetting losses. The ΔP values indicate a large spatial heterogeneity. They show different local and regional patterns. In this respect, the effect of the main alpine ridge dividing the Swiss territory into northern and southern parts is crucial. Water budget computations indicate that the regional ΔP values have a tendency to overestimate areal precipitation. The possible reasons are the redistribution of precipitation by wind and its accumulation in the valleys and, at the same time, the biased precipitation networks preferring location of gauges also in the valleys.
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Abbreviations
- MAR:
-
main alpine ridge dividing Swiss territory into northern and southern parts
- ΔP :
-
altitudinal gradient of precipitation, i.e. the rate of change of precipitation with altitude, in mm per 100 m
- r :
-
correlation coefficient
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Sevruk, B. (1997). Regional Dependency of Precipitation-Altitude Relationship in the Swiss Alps. In: Diaz, H.F., Beniston, M., Bradley, R.S. (eds) Climatic Change at High Elevation Sites. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8905-5_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8905-5_7
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