Journal article
The Link Between the Madden-Julian Oscillation and Rainfall Trends in Northwest Australia
A Borowiak, A King, T Lane
Geophysical Research Letters | AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION | Published : 2023
DOI: 10.1029/2022GL101799
Abstract
Rainfall during the monsoon in northwest Australia has increased since the 1950s. Previous studies have explored possible causes of the rainfall increase; however, the trend has not been fully explained. Understanding the cause of this trend is important for interpreting climate projections and local water-sensitive services. We explore the role of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) in explaining the rainfall increase. The MJO, since 1974, has had a longer duration in phases associated with enhanced rainfall in northwest Australia (Phases 5 and 6) during the monsoon. We show that the rainfall trend in northwest Australia is identified only during MJO phases associated with enhanced rainfall..
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Grants
Awarded by National Computational Infrastructure
Funding Acknowledgements
ARB and TPL were supported by the Australian Research Council Grant CE170100023 and ADK was supported by the Australian Research Council Grant DE180100638. We acknowledge useful discussions with Scott Wales, Harry Hendon, Matthew Wheeler and Andrew Marshall. The work was undertaken with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), which is supported by the Australian Government. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.