Effects of Amazon Drought on Eastern Pacific SST

Abstract:

Changing SST in the eastern Pacific associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is known to affect Amazonian precipitation; but to what extent does changing Amazonian vegetation and rainfall impact eastern Pacific SST? To investigate this question, observational precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and SST ERA-Interim reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is analyzed to establish correlation between precipitation and SST in the areas of interest: the eastern equatorial Pacific and the tropical Atlantic. Other observational and reanalysis parameters, such as low cloud amount, vertical velocity, surface winds, etc., are also studied to gain a broader understanding of the ongoing processes.