Assessment of daily and monthly precipitation record data over the Fiji Islands for the period 1905-2021

Over the last century, climate change has become a subject of great interest and is recognized as one of the major global challenges facing humankind in the 21st century. Changing precipitation patterns including extreme events such as more intense and prolonged dry periods have become a growing concern for people living in the Pacific Island region given their high dependence on rainfall for their freshwater needs as well as the precipitation impact on different sectors and socioeconomic activities. However, up to date, little attention has been paid to understanding the implications of climatic changes for people and their capacity to manage these changes. Here we have analyzed the temporal evolution of precipitation data over the Fiji islands for the period 1905–2021, using observational in-situ data from 23 meteorological stations and using 23 climate indices calculated with the ClimInd R package by using daily precipitation data. These indices are focused on extreme precipitation events which characterizes the data record as regards the frequency (e.g. the number of dry days or the number of very wet days), the duration (e.g. the longest dry period or the longest wet period) and the precipitation intensity (e.g. the total precipitation amount) among others. Positive increasing trends were found for the majority of daily climate indices although no statistically significant trends were dominant. The results derived from this study can be useful as validation of climate models helping to better understand climate change processes in this vulnerable climate region from a wide perspective which could help for climate decision-making.

 Keywords: precipitation pattern, extreme events, Pacific Island region, trends, climate indices, ClimInd.