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Spatial and temporal characteristics of rainfall over a forested river basin in NW Borneo

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Abstract

The spatial and temporal patterns of rainfall over the Baram River Basin (BR) in Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo) were characterised through cluster analysis and multivariate statistics for the 25 year period from 1990 to 2014. Baram River Basin recorded an average annual rainfall of 3654 mm with high spatial and temporal variations. Ward’s method based analytical hieratical clustering (AHC) identified three homogeneous clusters (HC’s) of rain gauging stations (HC-I, HC-II, and HC-III). Rain gauges in HC-I are located in high rainfall domain, HC-II gauges are in moderate rainfall domain and HC-III gauges are in low rainfall domains. The moderate elevation regions in the Baram basin recorded the highest amounts of rainfall compared to lower and upper elevated regions. Multivariate statistics show variation in the distribution of monthly and annual rainfall within and between individual HC’s. Mean annual rainfall recorded at individual HC’s varies by around 1000 mm. Though the mean monthly rainfall distribution in HC’s varies by more than 70 mm, all clusters show a common pattern of high and low rainfall seasons related to monsoon characteristics of the region. The northeast monsoon (NEM) is the wettest period with highest mean rainfall falling in the months of November and December at all stations. In comparison, the southwest monsoon (SWM) is the driest season with the lowest mean rainfall falling in July. It was also noted that the inter-monsoon periods are actually wetter than the SWM season. Overall, rainfall in the Baram shows high inter-annual variability with dominant low rainfall domain in the lower (coastal) and upper (plateau) reach with highly localised high rainfall domain surrounded by fluctuating moderate rainfall areas in the middle reaches of the river basin. The localised nature of high rainfall domain in the central (south and southwest) part of the basin suggests that the surrounding elevated mountains and hills in that region influence the high rainfall recorded. The findings of the present research will aid in formulating water resource management plans, large scale plantation and agricultural practices and any other hydrological development projects in the region.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Sarawak Energy Berhad for funding this research under the Project “Mapping of Soil Erosion Risk” (Grant Number RD01/2014(C)). They also thank Curtin University Malaysia for facilities and other assistance and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), Malaysia for providing rainfall data. Authors are also thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their critical reviews, constructive comments and suggestions, which significantly improved the quality of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Applied Geology, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

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Vijith, H., Dodge-Wan, D. Spatial and temporal characteristics of rainfall over a forested river basin in NW Borneo. Meteorol Atmos Phys 132, 683–702 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-019-00714-4

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