The influence of ENSO on global terrestrial water storage using GRACE

• DOI: 10.1029/2012gl052495
• Publication Date: 2012-07-24T13:20:51Z
• Authors: T. Phillips; R. S. Nerem; Baylor Fox‐Kemper; J. S. Famiglietti; B. Rajagopalan
• Keywords: Teleconnection; Multivariate ENSO index; Anomaly (physics)

The influence of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on terrestrial water storage is analyzed for time period 2003–2010 using monthly estimates continental from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Peak correlation between NOAA's Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) measured mass anomaly timeseries shows an R 2 0.65 Amazon Basin Borneo in Southeast Asia. By including a Hilbert transformation MEI to account lag, improved 0.76. Tropical regions show strong negative with arid are positively correlated. GRACE able detect all significant known teleconnection patterns around globe, Alaska Antarctica. In addition, suggests some Greenland's recent loss could be ENSO‐related.