The rainfall reliability wizard--a new tool to rapidly analyse spatial rainfall reliability with examples

Abstract A new computer-based tool, the Rainfall Reliability Wizard, is described for rapid spatial assessments of rainfall reliability. It employs conditional statistical methods to analyse rainfall reliability using over 100 years of gridded monthly rainfall data across Australia. Features of the Wizard include analyses of long term inter-seasonal and intra-seasonal reliability, discrete events, and the ability to analyse in absolute and relative terms. The Wizard is an easy-to-use program that runs on personal computers and a simplified version of the software is available on the Internet. Selected functions of the Wizard are illustrated in this paper which includes an analysis of rainfall reliability and the drought event of 1994 across the Australian wheat belt.

[1]  G. Murray,et al.  Low rainfall rarely limits wheat yields in southern New South Wales , 1989 .

[2]  Stanley L. Barnes,et al.  Applications of the Barnes Objective Analysis Scheme. Part II: Improving Derivative Estimates , 1994 .

[3]  J. Donnelly,et al.  Using the GrassGro decision support tool to evaluate some objective criteria for the definition of exceptional drought , 1998 .

[4]  R. French,et al.  Water use efficiency of wheat in a Mediterranean-type environment. I. The relation between yield, water use and climate , 1984 .

[5]  G. Laughlin,et al.  Exceptional Circumstances: A Case Study in the Application of Climate Information to Decision Making. , 2000 .

[6]  Stanley L. Barnes,et al.  Applications of the Barnes Objective Analysis Scheme. Part III: Tuning for Minimum Error , 1994 .

[7]  T. Lyons,et al.  Rainfall-yield relationships across the Australian wheatbelt , 1998 .

[8]  John O. Carter,et al.  Using spatial interpolation to construct a comprehensive archive of Australian climate data , 2001, Environ. Model. Softw..

[9]  D. Stephens.  Objective criteria for estimating the severity of drought in the wheat cropping areas of Australia , 1998 .

[10]  S. Mark Howden,et al.  A FRAMEWORK FOR ESTIMATING THE EXTENT AND SEVERITY OF DROUGHT, BASED ON A GRAZING SYSTEM IN SOUTH-EASTERN AUSTRALIA , 1998 .

[11]  R. French,et al.  Water use efficiency of wheat in a Mediterranean-type environment. II. some limitations to efficiency , 1984 .

[12]  Neville Nicholls,et al.  A historical annual temperature dataset for Australia , 1996 .

[13]  S. Barnes,et al.  Applications of the Barnes Objective Analysis Scheme. Part I: Effects of Undersampling, Wave Position, and Station Randomness , 1994 .

[14]  Steven E. Koch,et al.  An interactive Barnes objective map analysis scheme for use with satellite and conventional data , 1983 .

[15]  Holger Meinke,et al.  Assessing exceptional drought with a cropping systems simulator: a case study for grain production in northeast Australia , 1998 .

[16]  Atlas of Australian resources , 1962 .