%0 Journal Article
%T A multivariate climate index for the western coast of Colombia
%J Advances in Geosciences (ADGEO)
%D 2013
%I Copernicus Publications
%X Indices of the interannual and interdecadal variability at Tumaco Island (2¡ã N; 79¡ã W; Colombia), based on time series of sea surface temperature (SST), air temperature (AT) and precipitation (P) from a coastal station, are presented regarding the period 1960¨C2010. These indices are derived from the first two EOF (empirical orthogonal function) modes of the normalized time series, which grasp 84% of the explained variance. The first EOF represents the interannual variability closely correlated with the ENSO-related SST variability of region Ni o 1+2 (r = 0.74; lag = 1), Ni o 3 (r = 0.71; lag = 1), and the well-known period band 2¨C8 yr. Furthermore, the first EOF also accounts for the extreme warm events in the eastern equatorial Pacific due to them being well correlated with the E index (r = 0.70). The second EOF represents a much longer variability dominated by the ENSO-like mode or Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), represented by two interdecadal modes (8¨C16 yr and 20¨C30 yr), and may account also with moderate warm events and cool events, being more sensitive to cool events.
%U http://www.adv-geosci.net/33/21/2013/adgeo-33-21-2013.html