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Influence of Indian Ocean sea surface temperature variability on southwest Western Australian winter rainfall
Citation
Samuel, JM and Verdon, DC and Sivapalan, M and Franks, SW, Influence of Indian Ocean sea surface temperature variability on southwest Western Australian winter rainfall, Water Resources Research, 42, (6) Article W08402. ISSN 0043-1397 (2006) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2006 American Geophysical Union
Abstract
[1] Southwest Western Australia (SWWA) has experienced a significant drop in winter rainfall during the past three decades, the cause of which is still subject to considerable speculation and debate. This prolonged drought has heavily impacted on water resources in the state, the predicted continuation of which is of major concern to the people of Western Australia. In this paper, the possible influence of sea surface temperature (SST) variability occurring over parts of the Indian Ocean on SWWA rainfall variability is explored. The results of our statistical analyses show that winter rainfall (May to October) in SWWA is lower in years when warm SSTs dominate the southern and tropical western Indian Ocean, compared to years when cool anomalies are present in the same region. In addition, a step change that can be detected in the SST anomalies in the southern and tropical western Indian Ocean occurring around 1970 happens to
coincide with a similar sharp reduction in SWWA rainfall. It is suggested that the possible association between the Indian Ocean SST anomalies and observed variability of SWWA rainfall may be utilized, at a minimum, as possible diagnostic tools in the evaluation of global climate model outputs, in this way constraining the uncertainties in their predictions.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | rainfall IOD ENSO drought australia climate variability change |
Research Division: | Engineering |
Research Group: | Environmental engineering |
Research Field: | Environmentally sustainable engineering |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Other environmental management |
Objective Field: | Other environmental management not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Franks, SW (Professor Stewart Franks) |
ID Code: | 86422 |
Year Published: | 2006 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 15 |
Deposited By: | Engineering |
Deposited On: | 2013-09-14 |
Last Modified: | 2014-02-21 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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