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An investigation into the relationship between moon phases and precipitation maximums in British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The correlations between moon phases and precipitation maximums were investigated for selected stations in British Columbia in order to determine if they existed for: (a) individual stations; (b) grouped stations; (c) annual occurrences; (d) seasonal occurrences; and (e) geographic areas. The analysis consisted of a graphical presentation and a statistical test for randomness. Graphs of annual and seasonal moving totals for grouped and Individual stations were prepared. They were analyzed for peaks in the configuration of the graphs and for annual and seasonal components through the use of the X2p test. It is apparent from this study that there is a relationship between moon phases and precipitation maximums for grouped stations and individual stations in British Columbia. The evidence for the annual components of "lunar" precipitation for the individual stations shows, statistically, that the distributions are non-random and, graphically, that peaks are visible. Moreover, a shift of the peaks with latitude is discernible for the stations of British Columbia and it is suggested that this shift exists on a global scale. The evidence for the seasonal components of "lunar" precipitation for the individual stations is not as conclusive, either statistically or graphically. The seasonal graphs show peaks but the test for randomness yields inconsistent results.

Text

2012-05-28

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42410

Geography

University of British Columbia

Graduate