On-farm water management and the madden-julian oscillation

The Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a tropical atmospheric phenomenon, which, develops over the Indian Ocean and travels eastward through the tropics. With a timescale ranging from 30 to 60 days, the MJO has a frequency of 6 to 12 events per year. The active phase of an MJO event is associated with increased tropical convective activity. Following active convection is a region characterised by westerly wind bursts. Statistical evidence (Kolmogorov-Smirnov distance) confirms that the tropical passage of the MJO correlates with periods of enhanced and suppressed rainfall states in higher latitudes. In this paper we show the impact of the passage of the MJO on the timing and amount of rainfall, with respect the Real-Time Multivariate MJO (RMM) Index. We also examine the potential for on-farm risk management made possible due to the temporal scale of the MJO, which bridges the gap between synoptic weather forecasting and current seasonal climate forecasting.