AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY: CORRELATION OF MONTHLY PRECIPITATION IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN WITH LATITUDE, LONGITUDE AND ALTITUDE

The linear partial regression coefficients of the 19-ycar average (1917–1935) monthly precipitation recorded at 42 points in central and southern Alberta on latitude, longitude and altitude were determined for each month of the year. The correlation of precipitation with these co-ordinates, although statistically significant, was only moderate. Some improvement was effected by inclusion of the quadratic term in longitude, but even so, more than 50% of the inter-station variance of the 19-year precipitation averages for most months remained in the form of residual deviations. Observations for individual years were even less amenable to graduation. Consequently, a given number of meteorological stations would provide a much less complete specification of precipitation than of air temperature (the subject of a parallel previous study) within the area considered.