Effect of coastline configuration on precipitation distribution in coastal zones

The effects of coastline, together with the other geographical and topographical factors such as longitude, latitude, elevation and distance from sea, on mean annual precipitation are investigated for the coastal area of the eastern Black Sea region. In this location, mountains run parallel to the sea coast. The coastline configuration is represented by a new variable, the coastline angle. A multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis is performed on mean annual precipitation recorded in coastal and inland gauges. In the study area, three variables—longitude, latitude and coastline angle—can explain 81% of the spatial variability of precipitation for the coastal gauges and 93% of that for the inland gauges. When the entire study area considered, without grouping the gauges, 80% of the spatial variability is explained by these variables. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.