scholarly journals Cold Season Southwest Asia Precipitation Sensitivity to El Niño–Southern Oscillation Events

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 4463-4482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hoell ◽  
Mathew Barlow ◽  
Taiyi Xu ◽  
Tao Zhang

Abstract The sensitivity of southwest Asia (25°–40°N, 40°–70°E) precipitation during the November–April rainy season to four types of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, eastern Pacific (EP) and central Pacific (CP) El Niño and La Niña, is assessed using an ensemble of atmospheric model simulations forced by 1979–2015 boundary conditions. Sensitivity is assessed in terms of 1) the spread of precipitation across the ensemble members around the ensemble mean, 2) the probability of precipitation falling into the upper and lower terciles of the historical distribution, and 3) the relationship between the tropical atmosphere and southwest Asia precipitation during ENSO. During CP La Niña, the magnitude of the below-average mean precipitation exceeds the magnitude of the precipitation spread, thereby conditioning the probability of lower-tercile southwest Asia precipitation to greater than 70%. By contrast, EP La Niña does not alter the odds of southwest Asia precipitation terciles, as the magnitude of the near-zero mean precipitation is overwhelmed by the magnitude of the precipitation spread. EP and CP El Niño similarly result in above-average mean precipitation whose magnitude approaches the magnitude of the precipitation spread, thereby conditioning the probability of upper-tercile southwest Asia precipitation to around 50% region-wide. However, the notable effect of the precipitation spread during El Niño allows for a 20%–30% probability that the regional precipitation falls into the lower tercile. ENSO types simultaneously modify the probability of eastern Indian Ocean precipitation and southwest Asia precipitation, supporting the hypothesis that the tropical eastern Indian Ocean atmosphere serves as the medium by which ENSO forcing is communicated to southwest Asia.

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 2407-2424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hoell ◽  
Andrea E. Gaughan ◽  
Shraddhanand Shukla ◽  
Tamuka Magadzire

Abstract Southern Africa precipitation during December–March (DJFM), the height of the rainy season, is closely related with two modes of climate variability, El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the subtropical Indian Ocean dipole (SIOD). Recent research has found that the combined effects of ENSO and SIOD phasing are linked with changes to the regional southern Africa atmospheric circulation beyond the individual effects of either ENSO or SIOD alone. Here, the authors extend the recent research and examine the southern Africa land surface hydrology associated with the synchronous effects of ENSO and SIOD events using a macroscale hydrologic model, with particular emphasis on the evolution of the hydrologic conditions over three critical Transfrontier Conservation Areas: the Kavango–Zambezi Conservation Area, the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. A better understanding of the climatic effects of ENSO and SIOD phase combinations is important for regional-scale transboundary conservation planning, especially for southern Africa, where both humans and wildlife are dependent on the timing and amount of precipitation. Opposing ENSO and SIOD phase combinations (e.g., El Niño and a negative SIOD or La Niña and a positive SIOD) result in strong southern Africa climate impacts during DJFM. The strong instantaneous regional precipitation and near-surface air temperature anomalies during opposing ENSO and SIOD phase combinations lead to significant soil moisture and evapotranspiration anomalies in the year following the ENSO event. By contrast, when ENSO and SIOD are in the same phase (e.g., El Niño and a positive SIOD or La Niña and a negative SIOD), the southern Africa climate impacts during DJFM are minimal.


2013 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mega L. Syamsuddin ◽  
Sei-Ichi Saitoh ◽  
Toru Hirawake ◽  
Samsul Bachri ◽  
Agung B. Harto

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Rivera

An alternative physical mechanism is proposed to describe the occurrence of the episodic El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and La Nina climatic phenomena. This is based on the earthquake-perturbed obliquity change (EPOCH) model previously discovered as a major cause of the global climate change problem. Massive quakes impart a very strong oceanic force that can move the moon which in turn pulls the earth’s axis and change the planetary obliquity. Analysis of the annual geomagnetic north-pole shift and global seismic data revealed this previously undiscovered force. Using a higher obliquity in the global climate model EdGCM and constant greenhouse gas forcing showed that the seismic-induced polar motion and associated enhanced obliquity could be the major mechanism governing the mysterious climate anomalies attributed to El Nino and La Nina cycles.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-211
Author(s):  
E. Dietze ◽  
A. Kleber ◽  
M. Schwikowski

Abstract. El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an important element of earth's ocean-climate system. To further understand its past variability, proxy records from climate archives need to be studied. Ice cores from high alpine glaciers may contain high resolution ENSO proxy information, given the glacier site is climatologically sensitive to ENSO. We investigated signals of ENSO in the climate of the subtropical Andes in the proximity of Cerro Tapado glacier (30°08' S, 69°55' W, 5550 m a.s.l.), where a 36 m long ice core was drilled in 1999 (Ginot, 2001). We used annual and semi-annual precipitation and temperature time series from regional meteorological stations and interpolated grids for correlation analyses with ENSO indices and ice core-derived proxies (net accumulation, stable isotope ratio δ18O, major ion concentrations). The total time period investigated here comprises 1900 to 2000, but varies with data sets. Only in the western, i.e. Mediterranean Andes precipitation is higher (lower) during El Niño (La Niña) events, especially at higher altitudes, due to the latitudinal shift of frontal activity during austral winters. However, the temperature response to ENSO is more stable in space and time, being higher (lower) during El Niño (La Niña) events in most of the subtropical Andes all year long. From a northwest to southeast teleconnection gradient, we suggest a regional water vapour feedback triggers temperature anomalies as a function of ENSO-related changes in regional pressure systems, Pacific sea surface temperature and tropical moisture input. Tapado glacier ice proxies are found to be predominantly connected to eastern Andean summer rain climate, which contradicts previous studies and the modern mean spatial boundary between subtropical summer and winter rain climate derived from the grid data. The only ice core proxy showing a response to ENSO is the major ion concentrations, via local temperature indicating reduced sublimation and mineral dust input during El Niño years.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 2872-2880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Meyers ◽  
Peter McIntosh ◽  
Lidia Pigot ◽  
Mike Pook

Abstract The Indian Ocean zonal dipole is a mode of variability in sea surface temperature that seriously affects the climate of many nations around the Indian Ocean rim, as well as the global climate system. It has been the subject of increasing research, and sometimes of scientific debate concerning its existence/nonexistence and dependence/independence on/from the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, since it was first clearly identified in Nature in 1999. Much of the debate occurred because people did not agree on what years are the El Niño or La Niña years, not to mention the newly defined years of the positive or negative dipole. A method that identifies when the positive or negative extrema of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and Indian Ocean dipole occur is proposed, and this method is used to classify each year from 1876 to 1999. The method is statistical in nature, but has a strong basis on the oceanic physical mechanisms that control the variability of the near-equatorial Indo-Pacific basin. Early in the study it was found that some years could not be clearly classified due to strong decadal variation; these years also must be recognized, along with the reason for their ambiguity. The sensitivity of the classification of years is tested by calculating composite maps of the Indo-Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly and the probability of below median Australian rainfall for different categories of the El Niño–Indian Ocean relationship.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd W. Moore ◽  
Jennifer M. St. Clair ◽  
Tiffany A. DeBoer

Winter and spring tornado activity tends to be heightened during the La Niña phase of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation and suppressed during the El Niño phase. Despite these tendencies, some La Niña seasons have fewer tornadoes than expected and some El Niño seasons have more than expected. To gain insight into such anomalous seasons, the two La Niña winters and springs with the fewest tornadoes and the two El Niño winters and springs with the most tornadoes between 1979 and 2016 are identified and analyzed in this study. The relationships between daily tornado count and the Global Wind Oscillation and Madden-Julian Oscillation in these anomalous seasons are also explored. Lastly, seasonal and daily composites of upper-level flow, low-level flow and humidity, and atmospheric instability are generated to describe the environmental conditions in the anomalous seasons. The results of this study highlight the potential for large numbers of tornadoes to occur in a season if favorable conditions emerge in association with individual synoptic-scale events, even during phases of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, Global Wind Oscillation, and Madden-Julian Oscillation that seem to be unfavorable for tornadoes. They also highlight the potential for anomalously few tornadoes in a season even when the oscillations are in favorable phases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-77
Author(s):  
Robert W. Ritzi ◽  
Lauren M. Roberson ◽  
Michael Bottomley

Continental-scale studies of North America suggest that the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can cause winters to be warmer, with less precipitation, during El Niño conditions and colder, with more precipitation, during La Niña conditions in the Midwest United States. Two sources of historical records of precipitation and temperature in southwest Ohio from 1896 to 2016 were analyzed. Three statistical methodologies were used to test the hypothesis that anomalies in winter temperature and precipitation occurred in relation to ENSO phases. Eighty percent of El Niño winters had below-average winter precipitation; the average anomaly was −5 cm. Precipitation decreased with increase in El Niño strength as measured by the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI). These results were statistically significant beyond the 95% level. However, variation in MEI only accounted for 3% of the overall variability in winter precipitation. Many of the drier winters on record, including the extrema, occurred during neutral winters. During La Niña winters precipitation was not statistically significantly different from that in neutral winters. Winter temperature was not statistically significantly different during El Niño and La Niña winters within the century of record. The results were consistent between separate analyses of data from the 2 different sources.


2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (7) ◽  
pp. 528 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. T. Hayman ◽  
A. M. Whitbread ◽  
D. L. Gobbett

The cropping simulation model APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator) was used to investigate the pattern of seasonal moisture stress during the growing season for four medium- to high-rainfall regions and four low-rainfall regions in the southern Australian grains belt over the period 1906–2007. Cluster analysis of the pattern of crop water stress experienced by each simulated crop was used to devise season types for the study sites. Average crop moisture stress for two periods up to grain filling, i.e. germination to 600°C days of thermal accumulation (~Zadoks 0–32) and from 600 to 1200 days of thermal accumulation (~Zadoks 32–71), was used to devise a classification of season type: low moisture stress early and late (L-L), low early and high late (L-H), high early and low late (H-L) and high early and late (H-H). Using regional rainfall we found that El Niño events are associated with double the risk of the season being in the lowest tercile from 33 to 67% and La Niña events increase the chance of being in the top tercile to 50%. Although there was a wide range of simulated yields in El Niño and La Niña years, for most sites the average yields were lower in El Niño years and higher in La Niña years. For most sites in the study 6 or 7 of the worst 10 years were El Niño, 3 Neutral and 1 or nil cases were La Niña events. This contrasts with a pattern assuming no El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influence of 2 El Niño, 6 Neutral and 2 La Niña events. Analysis of the relationship of season types identified by the cluster analysis to ENSO showed significant results for high-rainfall sites but not for low-rainfall sites. One of the reasons for this is that in low-rainfall sites, moisture stress occurs in most seasons. We conclude that there is good reason for farmers and advisers in South Australia to pay attention to a forecast of ENSO for the coming season as one part of their risk management strategy. We conclude on the need to think clearly about drought and aridity in these low-rainfall environments and comment on how this analysis further questions canopy management as a means of dealing with drought risk.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Alexander Y. Elake ◽  
Merlin Talahatu ◽  
Pieldrie Nanlohy

Analisis korelasi multivariabel antara curah hujan diMaluku (Ambon, Tual, dan Saumlaki) dengan anomali suhu the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) di daerah Niño 3.4 Samudera Pasifik, angin Monsun di wilayah Maluku serta anomali suhu Dipole Mode Event (DME) di Samudera Hindia telah dilakukan dengan analisa korelasi parsial dan berganda. Analisis tersebut dilakukan untuk data selama 10 tahun kalender yaitu dari Januari 2005 – Desember 2014 yang meliputi dua periode kejadian El Niño (tahun 2006/07 dan 2009/10), dua tahun fasa ENSO Normal (2005 dan 2013), dan tiga periode La Niña (2007/08, 2010/11, dan 2011/12). Pengaruh interaksi ENSO, Monsun dan Dipole Mode terhadap curah hujan Maluku ditunjukkan oleh nilai koefisien korelasi berganda (rb1) yang berkisar antara 0,748 – 0,999 dan nilai koefisien penentu berganda (rpb1) dengan kisaran 55,9–99,8% pada fasa El Niño. Sedangkan untuk fasa ENSO Normal nilainya berturut-turut rb2 = 0,807–0,905 dan rpb2 = 64,6 – 81,9%, dan untuk fasa fasa La Niña adalah rb3 = 0,674–0,964 dan rpb3 = 45,4– 92,9%. Pengaruh ENSO yang dominan terhadap curah hujan Ambon terlihat pada fasa El Niño dan fasa La Niña, sedangkan Monsun lebih dominan pada ENSO Normal. Untuk Tual, pengaruh ENSO, Monsun, dan Dipole Mode sama-sama terlihat pada fasa El Niño dan fasa La Niña, sedangkan Monsun lebih dominan dari Dipole Mode pada ENSO Normal. Sementara pengaruh Dipole Mode sangat dominan terhadap curah hujan Saumlaki.


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