RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Precipitation data considerations for evaluating subdaily changes in rainless periods due to climate change JF Journal of Soil and Water Conservation FD Soil and Water Conservation Society SP 238 OP 253 DO 10.2489/jswc.68.3.238 VO 68 IS 3 A1 J.V. Bonta YR 2013 UL http://www.jswconline.org/content/68/3/238.abstract AB Quantifying magnitudes and frequencies of rainless times between storms (TBS), or storm occurrence, is required for generating continuous sequences of precipitation for modeling inputs to small watershed models for conservation studies. Two parameters characterize TBS, minimum TBS (MTBS) and average TBS (ATBS)—both vary monthly and are calculated by assuming TBS follows an exponential distribution. Detecting changes in these parameters due to climate is important for precipitation and climate studies at short time and small spatial scales, but there are issues with depth resolution of precipitation data that must first be investigated. Precipitation data having one-minute temporal and 0.25 mm (0.01 in) depth resolutions from the UDSA Agricultural Research Service North Appalachian Experimental Watershed (NAEW) at Coshocton, Ohio, were used to determine the spatial variability and consistency of estimates over the 425 ha (1,050 ac) facility and the impacts of coarsening the depth resolution of data 10 times to 2.54 mm (0.1 in). The magnitudes and trends of changes in MTBS and ATBS are determined for three rain gauges over the NAEW and extended to other gauges in the Ohio region. Approximately 5,800 parameter pairs were computed for different data configurations. Small spatial scale, NAEW high-resolution precipitation data shows consistent MTBS and ATBS long-term values for each month but more variability in estimates for MTBS than ATBS. Climate change trends for MTBS and ATBS are not apparent and generally consistent for different NAEW gauges, except for November when all gauges were consistently significant for ATBS. There is a weak indication that the fall months may be affected by significant shortening of ATBS at the NAEW and in northeastern Ohio due to climate change, but more data are needed. An imposed, coarser NAEW data resolution results in consistent no-trend indications for MTBS, but not for ATBS. The coarse-resolution data may not be adequate to characterize TBS for investigating changes due to climate change unless more data preparation is performed, such as identifying and excluding dry times when precipitation may have occurred. Precipitation records with mixed resolution data cannot be used to detect climate changes of dry periods. More data and data preparation are needed to arrive at firm conclusions regarding climate change effects on TBS in Ohio.