Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves for the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia

Climate change has the potential to significantly impact various aspects of Earth’s climate systems, including precipitation patterns, necessitating region-specific action plans. This study examines the Wadi Al Rummah region in Qassim province, Saudi Arabia, by analyzing Intensity-Duration-Frequency...

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Main Authors: Mohammed ALRakathi, Abdullah Alodah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Atmosphere
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/16/1/59
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author Mohammed ALRakathi
Abdullah Alodah
author_facet Mohammed ALRakathi
Abdullah Alodah
author_sort Mohammed ALRakathi
collection DOAJ
description Climate change has the potential to significantly impact various aspects of Earth’s climate systems, including precipitation patterns, necessitating region-specific action plans. This study examines the Wadi Al Rummah region in Qassim province, Saudi Arabia, by analyzing Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves across six locations, utilizing observed daily precipitation data from 1986 to 2014. The nonparametric quantile mapping method was employed to adjust the outputs of eight Regional Climate Models (RCMs) within the CMIP6 ensemble. These models were evaluated under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), ranging from a stringent mitigation scenario to one with very high greenhouse gas emissions. Also, two statistical tests, namely the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Chi-Square tests, were used to assess the best-fitting distribution to estimate the maximum rainfall values. Temporal disaggregation of daily precipitation data was performed using the K-nearest neighbors (KNN) method. The IDF curves were generated for both historical and three projected future periods using Gumbel distribution, which proved to be the best-fitting statistical model, using six return periods: 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years. Results indicate that high-emission scenarios and longer timeframes exhibit greater uncertainty in IDF projections. Additionally, rainfall intensity is expected to increase over shorter durations, with significant increases observed in Buriydah and Nabhaniyah under SSP 8.5. In contrast, Al Rass, Badayea, and Al Mithnab show mixed trends, while Unaizah shows little to no significant change. These findings emphasize the need for sustainable development and adaptive strategies to mitigate risks in Qassim province, as climate impacts are projected to intensify, particularly in the short to long term.
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spelling doaj-art-d9680cbeab00486d9e4ee0e21053be352025-01-24T13:21:53ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332025-01-011615910.3390/atmos16010059Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves for the Qassim Region, Saudi ArabiaMohammed ALRakathi0Abdullah Alodah1Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraidah 51452, Qassim, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraidah 51452, Qassim, Saudi ArabiaClimate change has the potential to significantly impact various aspects of Earth’s climate systems, including precipitation patterns, necessitating region-specific action plans. This study examines the Wadi Al Rummah region in Qassim province, Saudi Arabia, by analyzing Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves across six locations, utilizing observed daily precipitation data from 1986 to 2014. The nonparametric quantile mapping method was employed to adjust the outputs of eight Regional Climate Models (RCMs) within the CMIP6 ensemble. These models were evaluated under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), ranging from a stringent mitigation scenario to one with very high greenhouse gas emissions. Also, two statistical tests, namely the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Chi-Square tests, were used to assess the best-fitting distribution to estimate the maximum rainfall values. Temporal disaggregation of daily precipitation data was performed using the K-nearest neighbors (KNN) method. The IDF curves were generated for both historical and three projected future periods using Gumbel distribution, which proved to be the best-fitting statistical model, using six return periods: 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years. Results indicate that high-emission scenarios and longer timeframes exhibit greater uncertainty in IDF projections. Additionally, rainfall intensity is expected to increase over shorter durations, with significant increases observed in Buriydah and Nabhaniyah under SSP 8.5. In contrast, Al Rass, Badayea, and Al Mithnab show mixed trends, while Unaizah shows little to no significant change. These findings emphasize the need for sustainable development and adaptive strategies to mitigate risks in Qassim province, as climate impacts are projected to intensify, particularly in the short to long term.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/16/1/59intensity-duration-frequency curvesIDFclimate changetemporal disaggregationquantile mappingRCMs
spellingShingle Mohammed ALRakathi
Abdullah Alodah
Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves for the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia
Atmosphere
intensity-duration-frequency curves
IDF
climate change
temporal disaggregation
quantile mapping
RCMs
title Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves for the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia
title_full Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves for the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves for the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves for the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia
title_short Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves for the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia
title_sort assessing the impact of climate change on intensity duration frequency idf curves for the qassim region saudi arabia
topic intensity-duration-frequency curves
IDF
climate change
temporal disaggregation
quantile mapping
RCMs
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/16/1/59
work_keys_str_mv AT mohammedalrakathi assessingtheimpactofclimatechangeonintensitydurationfrequencyidfcurvesfortheqassimregionsaudiarabia
AT abdullahalodah assessingtheimpactofclimatechangeonintensitydurationfrequencyidfcurvesfortheqassimregionsaudiarabia