Identification of three dominant rainfall regions within Indonesia and their relationship to sea surface temperature

The characteristics of climatic rainfall variability in Indonesia are investigated using a double correlation method. The results are compared with empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and rotated EOF methods. In addition, local and remote responses to sea‐surface temperature (SST) are discussed. The...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of climatology 2003-10, Vol.23 (12), p.1435-1452
Main Authors: Aldrian, Edvin, Dwi Susanto, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth, ocean, space
ENSO influence
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Indonesian rainfall
Marine
Meteorology
monsoon
regionalization
SST
Water in the atmosphere (humidity, clouds, evaporation, precipitation)
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The characteristics of climatic rainfall variability in Indonesia are investigated using a double correlation method. The results are compared with empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and rotated EOF methods. In addition, local and remote responses to sea‐surface temperature (SST) are discussed. The results suggest three climatic regions in Indonesia with their distinct characteristics. Region A is located in southern Indonesia from south Sumatera to Timor island, southern Kalimantan, Sulawesi and part of Irian Jaya. Region B is located in northwest Indonesia from northern Sumatra to northwestern Kalimantan. Region C encompasses Maluku and northern Sulawesi. All three regions show both strong annual and, except Region A, semi‐annual variability. Region C shows the strongest El Niño–southern oscillation (ENSO) influence, followed by Region A. In Region B, the ENSO‐related signal is suppressed. Except for Region B, there are significant correlations between SST and the rainfall variabilities, indicating a strong possibility for seasonal climate predictions. March to May is the most difficult season to predict the rainfall variability. From June to November, there are significant responses of the rainfall pattern to ENSO in Regions A and C. A strong ENSO influence during this normally dry season (June to September) is hazardous in El Niño years, because the negative response means that higher SST in the NIÑO3 of the Pacific region will lower the rainfall amount over the Indonesian region. Analyses of Indonesian rainfall variability reveal some sensitivities to SST variabilities in adjacent parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society
ISSN:0899-8418
1097-0088
DOI:10.1002/joc.950