ENSO Links

• An analysis of the relationship to cloud cover (The ESO Messenger 90, December 97)) and to seeing, (The ESO Messenger 97, September 99)) at ESO observatories. Some plots have been later updated.
• A clear description of El Nino Southern Oscillation and of its consequence on climate in Australia and South America is available at El Nino or ENSO theme pages of the NOAA climate diagnosis center.

  

  This image shows cold water upwelling near the coast of Peru (purple) and joining the South Equatorial Current, which flows westward across the Pacific Ocean. This MODIS SST image from January 1-8, 2001 shows the ocean in normal conditions, but during an El Nino the waters off Peru are much warmer. Credit: NASA

  

  Historical comparison of previous elninos (red) and lanina (blue) using soi indices

  

  Do La Niña-El Niño cycles lie on top of a larger scale temperature distribution?

  TOPEX-Poseidon reveals indices of a larger decadal climate pattern, and a Wavelet Analysis showing a hidden 16 years periodicity later attributed to the so-called Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO).

  

• For readers interested to learn about meteorology, a great service is provided by the University of Illinois Weather World Project (WW2010) Online Meteorology Guide which also include an elnino section