The all-year rainfall region of South Africa: Satellite rainfall-estimate perspective

Abstract

Climate predictability and variability studies over South Africa typically focus on the summer rainfall region and to a lesser extent on the winter rainfall region. The all-year rainfall region of South Africa, a narrow strip located along the Cape south coast, has been neglected in this regard, despite it being a region of great agricultural importance. As a first step to gain understanding into the driving mechanisms of climate variability over this rainfall region, the observed annual rainfall distribution and the rainfall regimes associated with the all-year rainfall region are investigated. Of particular importance is the bi-modal annual distribution of rainfall (Van Rooy, 1972). Three observed datasets, of which two are satellite rainfall estimates, are utilized for this purpose. The satellite rainfall estimates are available for the land and oceanic regions, ideal for investigation of rainfall regimes that influence the all-year rainfall region that is rooted in the adjacent ocean.