Spatiotemporal patterns of ENSO‐precipitation relationships in the tropical Andes of southern Peru and Bolivia

Precipitation in the outer tropical Andes is highly seasonal, exhibits considerable interannual variability, and is vital for regulating freshwater availability, flooding, glacier mass balance, and droughts. The primary driver of interannual variability is El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of climatology 2021-06, Vol.41 (8), p.4061-4076
Main Authors: Jonaitis, Joseph A., Perry, L. Baker, Soulé, Peter T., Thaxton, Christopher, Andrade‐Flores, Marcos F., Vargas, Tania Ita, Ticona, Laura
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Anomalies
Bolivia
Climate prediction
Cores
Drought
El Nino
El Nino phenomena
El Nino-Southern Oscillation event
ENSO
Flooding
Freshwater
Glacier mass balance
Glaciers
Ground-based observation
Ice cores
Identification
Inland water environment
Interannual variability
La Nina
Mass balance
Mass balance of glaciers
Peru
Precipitation
Precipitation anomalies
Rainy season
River basins
Sea level
Seasonal precipitation
Seasonal variability
Seasons
Southern Oscillation
tropical Andes
Tropical climate
Variability
Water management
Water resources
Water resources management
Weather stations
Wet season
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Summary:Precipitation in the outer tropical Andes is highly seasonal, exhibits considerable interannual variability, and is vital for regulating freshwater availability, flooding, glacier mass balance, and droughts. The primary driver of interannual variability is El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with most investigations reporting that the El Niño (La Niña) results in negative (positive) precipitation anomalies across the region. Recent investigations, however, have identified substantial spatiotemporal differences in ENSO‐precipitation relationships. Motivated by the dissimilarity of these findings, this study examines a carefully selected data set (≥ 90% completeness) of ground‐based precipitation observations from 75 high‐elevation (≥ 2,500 m above sea level) meteorological stations in the tropical Andes of southern Peru and Bolivia for the period 1972–2016. Distinct groups of stations and associated variability in precipitation characteristics (e.g., total seasonal precipitation, wet season onset, and wet season length) are identified. Using no spatial constraints, the K‐Means algorithm optimally grouped stations into five easily identifiable groups. The groups farthest from the Amazon basin had significant negative (positive) precipitation anomalies (p 
ISSN:0899-8418
1097-0088
DOI:10.1002/joc.7058