Wetting and Drying Patterns in a Wet Moisture Reference Year Identified Using the Weinert’s Index: Station Versus Gridded Data

Abstract

Hygrothermal simulation of building elements requires consideration of pertinent meteorological parameters which can be accounted by apt identification of a Moisture Reference Year (MRY). There are different indices available for the identification of MRY which depend on the availability of relevant data which are often not available in the desired quality and quantity for the location of interest. This study describes the utility of Weinert’s Index and gridded data for the identification of wet-MRYs across 10 locations in India. Weinert’s Index indicate that the locations pertaining to the cold and hot-dry region of India exhibit the highest and the least severity respectively. The study subsequently compares the wetting and drying pattern exhibited by gridded and station records over the duration of the wet-MRY and its annual wet-spell. A novel wet-spell severity index has been developed to quantify the severity of encompassed wetting and drying patterns. Results reveal that gridded data offer a conservative representation of wet conditions at a location with the severity tending to differ in places bearing complex topography. The values of wet-spell severity index attributes the highest and lowest wetting drying severity to the locations considered in the warm-humid and hot-dry region respectively.