Long-Term Analysis of Precipitation in Slovakia

Precipitation and its development over time is an important indicator of climate change. Research on long-term precipitation totals is absent in the Slovak Republic. This paper deals with the statistical analysis of daily precipitation from 48 precipitation stations in Slovakia. The paper evaluates the spatial distribution of precipitation in Slovakia and also presents analyses of stationarity and trends using the Mann-Kendall test. Emphasis is placed especially on the evaluation of the trends in total annual precipitation, maximum daily precipitation and also the number of days without precipitation in the year. By evaluating the trends in these three indicators, it is possible to assess the impact of potential change in the temporal and spatial distribution of precipitation on hydrological drought and floods. The results show that there are currently no significant changes in precipitation in Slovakia. The problem of floods and hydrological drought seems to be more complex and is mainly due to surface water drainage from the landscape and the change in its use in connection with the increase in the average annual temperature.