El Niño

Can the teleconnection between ENSO and the boreal hydrological cycle be revealed through sea surface temperature anomalies?

How the water cycle changes inter-annually in the boreal region and how the hydrological variables such as precipitation, evaporation, runoff and terrestrial water storage relate to ENSO are still unanswered questions.

In this contribution, we explore the teleconnection patterns of the boreal hydrological cycle and climate change indicated by El Niño Southern Oscillation Index (ENSO), using monthly total water storage changes derived from GRACE, precipitation, runoff and evapo-transpiration, land surface temperature anomalies, and global sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies.

With the aid of SST as an intermedium between ENSO and terrestrial water cycle, we apply canonical correlation analysis (CCA) on the SST anomalies and hydrological variables to identify the implicit spatio-temporal relationship between the hydrological cycle on land and ENSO. Teleconnection patterns are then obtained through identified joint modes from each variables.

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