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The flow records of arid zone rivers are characterised by a high degree of seasonal variability, being dominated by long periods of very low or zero flow. Discrete flow events in these rivers are influenced by aseasonal factors such as global climate forcings. The atmospheric circulations of the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) have been shown to influence climate regimes across many parts of the world. Strong teleconnections between changing ENSO regimes and discharges are likely to be observed in highly variable arid zones. In this paper, the influence of ENSO mechanisms on the flow records of two arid zone rivers in each of Australia and Southern Africa are identified. ENSO signals, together with multi-decadal variability in their impact as identified through seasonal values of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) index, are shown to influence both the rate of occurrence and the size of discrete flow episodes in these rivers.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	flood, drought, ENSO, IPO, PDO, climate variability, climate change, hydrology
Research Division:	Engineering
Research Group:	Environmental Engineering
Research Field:	Environmental Technologies
Objective Division:	Environment
Objective Group:	Land and Water Management
Objective Field:	Land and Water Management of environments not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Franks, SW (Professor Stewart Franks)
ID Code:	93395
Year Published:	2004
Web of Science® Times Cited:	2
Deposited By:	Office of the School of Engineering
Deposited On:	2014-07-31
Last Modified:	2014-08-05
Downloads:	213 View Download Statistics