University of Tasmania
Browse

Relationships between the El-Niño Southern Oscillation and spate flows in southern Africa and Australia

Download (675.58 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 02:20 authored by Whiting, JP, Lambert, MF, Metcalfe, AV, Adamson, PT, Franks, SW, Kuczera, G
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.

History

Publication title

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

Volume

8

Issue

6

Pagination

1118-1128

ISSN

1027-5606

Department/School

School of Engineering

Publisher

European Geophysical Soc

Place of publication

Max-Planck-Str 13, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, 37191

Rights statement

Licenced under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Other environmental management not elsewhere classified

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC