Abstract

                                Rainfall is the dynamic weather parameter having a significant role in the agriculture livelihood. Growth in agriculture and other related sectors depends mainly on the adequate amount and timely availability of rainfall. Variability in precipitation exerts a huge impact on human beings and agriculture. This variation gives the necessity to study the regular pattern of rainfall. The present study aims at analysing the trends in rainfall intensity across various blocks of Tiruchirappalli district using daily rainfall data for the period 1990 to 2017. Non-parametric tests such as Mann- Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator were employed for this purpose. Results revealed that two blocks showed statistically significant increasing trends (95% confidence level) and one block showed significant decreasing trend (95% confidence level) and the remaining eleven blocks showed no significant trends.

Key words : Rainfall, Trend, Mann-Kendall, Sen’s slope.