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Non-stationary and non-linear influence of ENSO and Indian Ocean Dipole on the variability of Indian monsoon rainfall and extreme rain events

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Abstract

The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) are widely recognized as major drivers of inter-annual variability of the Indian monsoon (IM) and extreme rainfall events (EREs). We assess the time-varying strength and non-linearity of these linkages using dynamic linear regression and Generalized Additive Models. Our results suggest that IOD has evolved independently of ENSO, with its influence on IM and EREs strengthening in recent decades when compared to ENSO, whose relationship with IM seems to be weakening and more uncertain. A unit change in IOD currently has a proportionately greater impact on IM. ENSO positively influences EREs only below a threshold of 100 mm day−1. Furthermore, there is a non-linear and positive relationship between IOD and IM totals and the frequency of EREs (>100 mm day−1). Improvements in modeling this complex system can enhance the forecasting accuracy of the IM and EREs.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the jointly administered Changing Water Cycle programme of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (Grant Ref: MoES/NERC/16/02/10 PC-11), Government of India and Natural Environment Research Council (Grant Ref: NE/I022450/1), United Kingdom for financial support. We thank the two anonymous reviewers and editor for their helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this article. We dedicate this paper to our colleague and co-author Professor Mike Bonell who passed away on July 11th, 2014.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560064, Karnataka, India

    Jagdish Krishnaswamy & Shrinivas Badiger

  2. Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning (FERAL), Pondicherry Campus, 170/3 Morattandi, Auroville Post, Villupuram, 605101, Tamil Nadu, India

    Srinivas Vaidyanathan & R. S. Bhalla

  3. Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and Co-operative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Balaji Rajagopalan

  4. Centre for Water Law, Policy and Sciences Under the Auspices of UNESCO, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK

    Mike Bonell

  5. Ecology and Evolution Group, National Centre for Biological Sciences, TIFR, GKVK Campus, Bellary Road, Bangalore, 560065, India

    Mahesh Sankaran

  6. School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Mahesh Sankaran

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  1. Jagdish Krishnaswamy
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  2. Srinivas Vaidyanathan
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  3. Balaji Rajagopalan
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  4. Mike Bonell
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  5. Mahesh Sankaran
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  6. R. S. Bhalla
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  7. Shrinivas Badiger
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Correspondence to Jagdish Krishnaswamy.

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M. Bonell—Deceased on 11 July 2014.

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Krishnaswamy, J., Vaidyanathan, S., Rajagopalan, B. et al. Non-stationary and non-linear influence of ENSO and Indian Ocean Dipole on the variability of Indian monsoon rainfall and extreme rain events. Clim Dyn 45, 175–184 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2288-0

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