Describing rainfall in northern Australia using multiple climate indices

Rogers, Cassandra Denise Wilks; Beringer, Jason

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-597-2017

Articles | Volume 14, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-597-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Special issue:

OzFlux: a network for the study of ecosystem carbon and water...

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-597-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 3

Research article

|

07 Feb 2017

Research article |

| 07 Feb 2017

Describing rainfall in northern Australia using multiple climate indices

Cassandra Denise Wilks Rogers and Jason Beringer

Data sets

Australian Water Availability Project (AWAP) data and maps CSIRO http://www.csiro.au/awap

Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature (ERSST.v3b) National Climatic Data Center http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ersst

Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) since 1876 Australian Government http://poama.bom.gov.au/climate/current/soi2.shtml

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean http://research.jisao.washington.edu/data_sets/pdo/#data

Twentieth Century Reanalysis (V2): Monthly Mean Pressure Level Data National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.20thC_ReanV2.pressure.mm.html

Short summary

Savannas are extensive yet sensitive to variability in precipitation. We examined the relationship between climate phenomena and historical rainfall variability across Australian savannas using 16 climate indicies. Seasonal variation was most correlated with the Australian Monsoon Index, whereas interannual variability was related to a greater number of phenomena. Rainfall variability and the underlying climate processes driving variability are important.