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Southeastern Geographer Vol. 25, No. 1, 1985, pp. 44-50 INTERANNUAL variations of monthly water budgets FOR GEORGIA, 1940-1983 Philip W. Suckling Alternating wet periods and droughts are common features of the historical precipitation climate of most areas and Georgia is no exception . (J) Water availability is of prime importance to man's agricultural, industrial and other activities. Therefore, the variability of precipitation has considerable impact, especially with respect to the frequency of extreme events. In a recent study on temperature variability in Georgia, no trend toward an increase in the frequency of exceptionally above or below normal monthly temperatures for recent years was found. (2) It is the purpose of this paper to extend the analysis to cover moisture status. Water availability is strongly affected by temperature which influences the potential for évapotranspiration. (3) Therefore, rather than analysing precipitation values alone, a water balance approach will be utilized resulting in an assessment of interannual variations of monthly water budgets. METHODOLOGY. Six sites in Georgia plus the nearby locations of Chattanooga, TN, Tallahassee, FL, Jacksonville, FL, were used for study (Fig. 1). These latter sites were included to provide surrogate data for the far northern and southern regions of the state in the absence of appropriate in-state sites. Mean monthly values of temperature and precipitation for the 44-year period 1940-1983 were extracted from the Climatological Data records published by the National Climatic Center. Water budgets were calculated for each month in the 44-year period using the Thornthwaite approach. (4) Average monthly water budgets with standard deviation values are given in Table 1. Positive values represent water surpluses where precipitation exceeds adjusted potential évapotranspiration while negative values represent water deficits where adjusted potential évapotranspiration exceeds precipitation. From Table 1, it can be seen that large surpluses exist for winter months in Georgia whereas most sites typically experience some deficit during summer. In order to assess interannual variations of monthly water budgets, Dr. Suckling is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA 30602. Vol. XXV, No. 1 45 • Chattanooga 50 Miles \ Athens \ N Atlanta Augusta·^ %. ?Macon ^Columbus s Savannahi \ -------s¦>_______________________________________ Tai lahassee« ------------------------ . 1 Jacksonville Fig. 1. Location of study sites. the climatic variability index of Tavokol and Jones was employed. (5) The index is calculated as: Water Budget = J_ y |X - X| Variability Index ? \ s? where ? is the number of sites, X is the average water budget value for s? TABLE 1 AVERAGE MONTHLY WATER BUDGETS WITH STANDARD DEVIATIONS FOR THE PERIOD 1940-1983 (UNITS: CM) Site Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. MayJune Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Chattanooga: Atlanta: Athens: Augusta: Columbus: Macon: Savannah: Tallahassee: Jacksonville: Average SD Average SD Average SD Average SD Average SD Average SD Average SD Average SD Average SD 12.8 6.5 10.9 5.2 11.1 5.4 8.1 5.0 9.7 5.5 9.1 6.0 5.6 4.9 8.8 7.3 5.3 5.5 11.6 6.2 10.0 5.6 10.0 5.4 8.3 4.8 10.0 5.4 9.6 6.0 5.6 4.4 9.8 6.8 6.0 5.5 12.5 8.0 11.9 6.6 11.3 6.6 8.9 6.8 11.9 8.3 9.6 7.3 6.3 7.2 11.2 9.7 4.7 7.7 5.0 5.7 4.6 5.8 3.9 6.0 1.9 4.8 4.8 7.8 2.2 5.3 0.7 4.5 3.3 8.0 -0.5 6.2 -0.4 5.5 -0.9 5.8 0.4 6.7 -2.1 5.4 -1.1 5.8 -2.6 5.6 -1.8 6.6 -0.2 8.0 -3.2 7.3 -4.7 4.9 -5.0 4.9 -4.3 6.9 -5.3 4.8 -5.2 5.4 -6.0 4.9 -1.0 8.1 1.0 7.3 -1.1 7.5 -3.2 8.2 -3.7 6.9 -3.6 6.5 -5.7 6.9 -2.4 6.9...

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