RAINFALL TREND ANALYSIS OF BAITARANI RIVER SUB-BASIN, ODISHA

The present paper is an attempt to analyze rainfall trend of Baitarani River (Odisha) for a period of 42 years (1971-2012). The trend in rainfall data on annual, seasonal and monthly basis are examined through Mann Kendall Test and Sen?s Estimator of Slope. There is an overall positive trend in the annual rainfall but there are variations in terms of seasonal and monthly rainfall. There is a slightly increasing trend in the annual rainfall of Baitarani River Sub-Basin with an annual change of 7.23 mm/year statistically significant at 90% confidence level. Month of May and June shows positive trend at 90% confidence level. Annual rainfall shows a variation of 18.73%, while seasonal analysis shows a variation of 21.65%, 80.38% and 61.23% for Monsoon, Post-Monsoon and Pre-Monsoon respectively. March has the maximum variation of 220.6% while July has the least variation of 30.85%.