Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya
Research Article
Rainfall Variability and Extreme Hydrological Events in Kenya Since 1845-2012 Driven from Documentary Evidence and SPI Analysis
Author(s): Telesia M. Mutua* and Sebastian N. Runguma
The study investigates the chronology of rainfall extremities in Kenya and their inter-relationship with the external
climate factors since the years 1845-2012. It is the first study in Kenya to evaluate a long-term temporal evolution
of the droughts and wet extremities using documentary evidences and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)
analysis. The statistical procedures for this study involved the establishment of drought and wet events indices using
MATLAB R 2009a and Instat Plus (Instat+ v3.36) statistical software programs. The study findings show that the
19th century was much drier than the 20th and 21st centuries, marked by great desiccation, especially towards the end
of the century. In the 20th century, very severe long droughts were also experienced in 1940s and 1970s but there
were also very wet years whi.. View More»
DOI:
10.35248/2332-2594.2020.8.256