On the uniformity of rainfall distribution over India

•Temperature trends alter rainfall uniformity by modifying characteristics of rainfall events.•A significant relationship between rainfall uniformity and low rainfall intensity is observed.•Rainfall uniformity, high and low intensity of rainfall show a decreasing order of sensitivity to annual mean temperature. Understanding response of temporal distribution, timing, frequency and amount of high and low intensity rainfall to warming is important in water resources management. In this paper, Relative Entropy is used to investigate the spatial variability and change in uniformity of rainfall distribution over India. Temporal trends in atmospheric temperature can alter the frequency and amount of high and low intensity rainfall events, which influence the uniformity of rainfall distribution. The study is divided into two time periods, 1951–1980 and 1981–2010 based on time trend in annual mean temperature. The sensitivity of rainfall uniformity and high and low intensity rainfall events to annual mean temperature and the degree of coherence between them are investigated. The uniformity of rainfall distribution shows a significant spatial variability. Significant changes are observed in both the amount and timing of rainfall across India. A significant association between rainfall uniformity and low intensity of rainfall is observed in the recent past over a larger aerial extent compared to the distant past. It is concluded that rise in temperature modifies both high and low intensity rainfall events, thus altering the uniformity in rainfall distribution. A regionally varied strength of coherence between rainfall uniformity and high and low intensity rainfall is observed which may be due to regionally dependent soil moisture-precipitation feedbacks.