Provisional maps of the reliability of annual rainfall in East Africa

✍ Scribed by J. Glover; P. Robinson; J. P. Henderson

• Book ID: 104571648
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1954
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 694 KB
• Volume: 80
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0035-9009
• DOI: 10.1002/qj.49708034609

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

East Africa is a dry country. Its increasing population, which is dependent on agriculture, seeks expansion into new agricultural lands. Most of the available land lies in regions of low and variable rainfall. One of the most important requirements in the selection of sites for future development is that they should be subject to a reasonably reliable rainfall suited to the potential crop.

Earlier investigations have shown that the distribution of annual and seasonal rainfall in East Africa can be assumed to be normal for all practical purposes. On this basis it is possible to calculate the probabilities of receiving certain selected minimum values suited to a crop, and these can be combined for mapping purposes. Maps of the reliability of annual rainfall at two selected levels illustrate the potentialities of the method. The meteorological background to the maps and their application to agricultural development are briefly discussed.