scholarly journals Seasonal climate influences on the timing of the Australian monsoon onset

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 489-506
Author(s):  
Joel Lisonbee ◽  
Joachim Ribbe

Abstract. The timing of the first monsoon burst of the season, or the monsoon onset, can be a critical piece of information for agriculture, fire management, water management, and emergency response in monsoon regions. Why do some monsoon seasons start earlier or later than others? Previous research has investigated the impact of climate influences such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on monsoon variability, but most studies have considered only the impact on rainfall and not the timing of the onset. While this question could be applied to any monsoon system, this research presented in this paper has focused on the Australian monsoon. Even with the wealth of research available on the variability of the Australian monsoon season, the timing of the monsoon onset is one aspect of seasonal variability that still lacks skilful seasonal prediction. To help us better understand the influence of large-scale climate drivers on monsoon onset timing, we recreated 11 previously published Australian monsoon onset datasets and extended these to all cover the same period from the 1950/1951 through the 2020/2021 Australian wet seasons. The extended datasets were then tested for correlations with several standard climate indices to identify which climate drivers could be used as predictors for monsoon onset timing. The results show that many of the relationships between monsoon onset dates and ENSO that were previously published are not as strong when considering the extended datasets. Only a strong La Niña pattern usually has an impact on monsoon onset timing, while ENSO-neutral and El Niño patterns lacked a similar relationship. Detrended Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) data showed a weak relationship with monsoon onset dates, but when the trend in the IOD data is retained, the relationship with onset dates diminishes. Other patterns of climate variability showed little relationship with Australian monsoon onset dates. Since ENSO is a tropical climate process with global impacts, it is prudent to further re-examine its influences in other monsoon regions too, with the aim to evaluate and improve previously established prediction methodologies.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Lisonbee ◽  
Joachim Ribbe

Abstract. The timing of the first monsoon burst of the season, or the monsoon onset, can be a critical piece of information for agriculture, fire management, water management and emergency response in monsoon regions. Why do some monsoon seasons start earlier or later than others? Previous research has investigated the impact of climate influences such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on monsoon variability, but most studies have considered only the impact on rainfall and not the timing of the onset. While these questions could be applied to any monsoon system, this research presented in this paper has focused on the Australian monsoon. Even with the wealth of research available on the variability of the Australian monsoon season, the timing of the monsoon onset is one aspect of seasonal variability that still lacks skilful seasonal prediction. To help us better understand the influence of large-scales climate drivers on monsoon onset timing, we recreated 11 previously published Australian monsoon onset datasets and extended these to all cover the same period from the 1950–51 through the 2020–21 Australian wet seasons. The extended datasets were then tested for correlations with several standard climate indices to identify which climate drivers could be used as predictors for monsoon onset timing. The results show that many of the relationships between monsoon onset dates and ENSO that were previously published are not as strong when considering the extended datasets. Only a strong La Niña pattern usually has an impact on monsoon onset timing, while ENSO–neutral and El Niño patterns lacked a similar relationship. Detrended Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) data showed a weak relationship with monsoon onset dates, but when the trend in the IOD data is retained, the relationship with onset dates diminishes. Other patterns of climate variability showed little relationship with Australian monsoon onset dates. Since ENSO is a tropical climate process with global impacts, it is prudent to further re-examine its influences in other monsoon regions too, with the aim to evaluate and improve previously established prediction methodologies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 2224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamal A. Alawad ◽  
Abdullah M. Al-Subhi ◽  
Mohammed A. Alsaafani ◽  
Turki M. Alraddadi ◽  
Monica Ionita ◽  
...  

Falling between seasonal cycle variability and the impact of local drivers, the sea level in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has been given less consideration, especially with large-scale modes. With multiple decades of satellite altimetry observations combined with good spatial resolution, the time has come for diagnosis of the impact of large-scale modes on the sea level in those important semi-enclosed basins. While the annual cycle of sea level appeared as a dominant cycle using spectral analysis, the semi-annual one was also found, although much weaker. The first empirical orthogonal function mode explained, on average, about 65% of the total variance throughout the seasons, while their principal components clearly captured the strong La Niña event (1999–2001) in all seasons. The sea level showed a strong positive relation with positive phase El Niño Southern Oscillation in all seasons and a strong negative relation with East Atlantic/West Russia during winter and spring over the study period (1993–2017). We show that the unusually stronger easterly winds that are displaced north of the equator generate an upwelling area near the Sumatra coast and they drive both warm surface and deep-water masses toward the West Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, rising sea level over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. This process could explain the increase of sea level in the basin during the positive phase of El Niño Southern Oscillation events.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 289-297
Author(s):  
Ricky Anak Kemarau ◽  
Oliver Valentine Eboy

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event is a climate event that has an impact on the world climate. The effects of ENSO are often associated with prolonged droughts and floods since 1980 following global climate change. In addition to causing flooding and drought. Indirectly, the occurrence of ENSO causes health problems, environmental destruction, affecting economic activities such as agriculture and fisheries. Many studies on ENSO have been conducted. However, there is still a lack of research on the effect of ENSO on temperature in local knowledge areas, especially urban areas because the urban environment especially building materials that can absorb and release heat. In addition, previous studies have focused on large-scale areas. Beside that there still gap to understand and increase knowledge about the effect of ENSO on local temperatures, especially in urban areas. This study uses meteorological data and Oceanic Nino Index (ONI) from 1988 to 2019. This study found that the occurrence of ENSO has an effect on the value of daily temperature but differs based on the value of the ONI index. In addition, this study uses linear regression in predicting the effect of ENSO on temperature. The results of this study are useful to those responsible for understanding the impact of ENSO on temperature in urban areas to provide infrastructure in reducing the impact of ENSO as well as adjustment measures during the occurrence of ENSO.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Mortensen ◽  
Shu Wu ◽  
Michael Notaro ◽  
Steven Vavrus ◽  
Rob Montgomery ◽  
...  

Abstract. Located at a complex topographic, climatic, and hydrologic crossroads, southern Peru is a semi-arid region that exhibits high spatiotemporal variability in precipitation. The economic viability of the region hinges on this water, yet southern Peru is prone to water scarcity caused by seasonal drought. Droughts here are often triggered during El Niño episodes; however, other large-scale climate mechanisms also play a noteworthy role in controlling the region’s hydrologic cycle. An extensive season-ahead drought prediction model is developed to help bolster existing capacity of stakeholders to plan for and mitigate the deleterious impacts of this hydrologic extreme. In addition to existing climate indices, large-scale climatic variables, such as sea surface temperature, are investigated to identify potential drought predictors. A principal component regression framework is applied to eleven potential predictors to produce an ensemble forecast of January-March precipitation. Model hindcasts of 51 years, compared to climatology and another model conditioned solely on an El Niño-Southern Oscillation index, achieve notable skill and perform better for several metrics, including ranked probability skill score and a hit-miss statistic. Extending the lead time and spatially disaggregating precipitation predictions to the local level may further assist regional stakeholders and policymakers preparing for drought.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-401
Author(s):  
Zohreh Maryanaji ◽  
Leili Tapak ◽  
Omid Hamidi

Abstract The large-scale variability of atmospheric and ocean circulation patterns cause seasonal climate changes in the Earth. In other words, climate elements are affected by phenomena like El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), El Niño (NINO), and Northern Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). In this study the characteristics of the frost season over a 20-year period (1996–2015) from seven synoptic stations in western Iran were evaluated using support vector machine and random forest regression. Comparing determination coefficients obtained by these models between atmospheric and ocean circulation indices and the characteristics of the frost season showed a positive effect. Thus, the onset and the end of the frost season in this region were highly correlated with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and NAO, respectively. In regions with lower correlations (central areas and some regions of Alvand Mountain), the role of the geographical factors, altitude and topography becomes more pronounced and the impact of the global indices is reduced. Cluster analysis was also conducted to detect patterns and to identify regions according to the effect of the atmospheric and oceanic indices on frost season, and three regions were identified. The largest correlations with global indices (in both models) belonged to the first and third classes, respectively. The results of this study could be applied for planning environmental and agricultural activities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (16) ◽  
pp. 6371-6389 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Cerrone ◽  
G. Fusco ◽  
Y. Cotroneo ◽  
I. Simmonds ◽  
G. Budillon

The Southern Ocean (SO) is the region of the World Ocean bordering on Antarctica over which significant exchanges between the atmosphere, the ocean, and the sea ice take place. Here, the strong and nearly unhindered eastward flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important role in mean global climate as it transmits climate anomalies around the hemisphere. Features of interannual variability have been observed to propagate eastward around the SO with the circumpolar flow in the form of a system of coupled anomalies, known as the Antarctic circumpolar wave (ACW). In the present study, the 142-yr series of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis, version 2, dataset (850-hPa geopotential height, sea level pressure, sea surface temperature, surface meridional wind, and surface air temperature) spanning from 1871 to 2012 is used to investigate the presence and variability of ACWs. This examination shows, for the first time, the presence of the ACW before the mid-1950s and interdecadal changes in its characteristics. Modifications in the strength and speed of the circumpolar wave are shown to be linked with large-scale climate changes. Complex empirical orthogonal function analyses confirm that the ACW becomes apparent when the tropical El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signal gives rise to the Pacific–South American (PSA) pattern and is a consequence of the constructive combination of the PSA and the subantarctic zonal wavenumber 3. Correlation analyses are also performed to quantify the role played by ENSO teleconnections for the appearance of the ACW, and the impact on the presence of ACWs of three super–El Niño events is investigated.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Mortensen ◽  
Shu Wu ◽  
Michael Notaro ◽  
Stephen Vavrus ◽  
Rob Montgomery ◽  
...  

Abstract. Located at a complex topographic, climatic, and hydrologic crossroads, southern Peru is a semiarid region that exhibits high spatiotemporal variability in precipitation. The economic viability of the region hinges on this water, yet southern Peru is prone to water scarcity caused by seasonal meteorological drought. Meteorological droughts in this region are often triggered during El Niño episodes; however, other large-scale climate mechanisms also play a noteworthy role in controlling the region's hydrologic cycle. An extensive season-ahead precipitation prediction model is developed to help bolster the existing capacity of stakeholders to plan for and mitigate deleterious impacts of drought. In addition to existing climate indices, large-scale climatic variables, such as sea surface temperature, are investigated to identify potential drought predictors. A principal component regression framework is applied to 11 potential predictors to produce an ensemble forecast of regional January–March precipitation totals. Model hindcasts of 51 years, compared to climatology and another model conditioned solely on an El Niño–Southern Oscillation index, achieve notable skill and perform better for several metrics, including ranked probability skill score and a hit–miss statistic. The information provided by the developed model and ancillary modeling efforts, such as extending the lead time of and spatially disaggregating precipitation predictions to the local level as well as forecasting the number of wet–dry days per rainy season, may further assist regional stakeholders and policymakers in preparing for drought.


2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 910-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Christiansen

Abstract The author analyzes the impact of 13 major stratospheric aerosol producing volcanic eruptions since 1870 on the large-scale variability modes of sea level pressure in the Northern Hemisphere winter. The paper focuses on the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) to address the question about the physical nature of these modes. The hypothesis that the phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) may control the geographical extent of the dominant mode in the Northern Hemisphere is also investigated, as well as the related possibility that the impact of the eruptions may be different according to the phase of ENSO. The author finds that both the AO and the NAO are excited in the first winter after the eruptions with statistical significance at the 95% level. Both the signal and the significance are larger for the NAO than for the AO. The excitation of the AO and the NAO is connected with the excitation of a secondary mode, which resembles an augmented Pacific–North American pattern. This mode has opposite polarity in the Atlantic and the Pacific and interferes negatively with the AO in the Pacific and positively in the Atlantic in the first winter after the eruptions, giving the superposition a strong NAO resemblance. Some evidence is found that the correlations between the Atlantic and the Pacific are stronger in the negative ENSO phase than in the positive phase, although this difference is not statistically significant when all data since 1870 are considered. The author does not find any evidence that the impact of the volcanic eruptions is more hemispheric in the negative than in the positive ENSO phase.


2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1760) ◽  
pp. 20180189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Shenkin ◽  
Benjamin Bolker ◽  
Marielos Peña-Claros ◽  
Juan Carlos Licona ◽  
Nataly Ascarrunz ◽  
...  

Large trees in the tropics are reportedly more vulnerable to droughts than their smaller neighbours. This pattern is of interest due to what it portends for forest structure, timber production, carbon sequestration and multiple other values given that intensified El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of droughts in the Amazon region. What remains unclear is what characteristics of large trees render them especially vulnerable to drought-induced mortality and how this vulnerability changes with forest degradation. Using a large-scale, long-term silvicultural experiment in a transitional Amazonian forest in Bolivia, we disentangle the effects of stem diameter, tree height, crown exposure and logging-induced degradation on risks of drought-induced mortality during the 2004/2005 ENSO event. Overall, tree mortality increased in response to drought in both logged and unlogged plots. Tree height was a much stronger predictor of mortality than stem diameter. In unlogged plots, tree height but not crown exposure was positively associated with drought-induced mortality, whereas in logged plots, neither tree height nor crown exposure was associated with drought-induced mortality. Our results suggest that, at the scale of a site, hydraulic factors related to tree height, not air humidity, are a cause of elevated drought-induced mortality of large trees in unlogged plots. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on the terrestrial tropical carbon cycle: patterns, mechanisms and implications'.


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