Characteristics of changes in rainfall data in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

Predicting the effect of climate change on rainfall data is essential to the economic headway of any country. This study investigated changes in rainfall data series due to climate change across ten stations in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The Mann–Kendall (MK), modified MK, and innovative trend analysis methods were used to identify trends in the rainfall data series. In addition, the homogeneity of rainfall data has been investigated by the Pettit, Standard Normal Homogeneity, Buishand Range, and Von Neumann Rate tests. Over the 30-year study period, it was found that just three stations out of ten exhibited significant serial correlations in rainfall data series. Annual rainfall has shown an increasing trend at most of the stations, with only four stations reporting statistically significant trends. Seasonally, a noticeable decrease in rainfall values has been observed in the northern part of the region during winter and spring compared with fall season trends. Based on the Pettitt change-point test, it was found that annual rainfall data in the study area is dominated by a positive shift. Moreover, it was found that the study area is dominated by humid rainfall intensity and has the highest concentration of irregular to strong distribution levels in annual rainfall data covering the north-eastern part of the study area. In addition, it was found that most of the annual rainfall data series is dominated by homogeneous trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]