Analysing the relationship between ocean indices and rainfall in the Chao Phraya River Basin

Abstract

ABSTRACT We examined the variability of ocean indices and rainfall in the Chao Phraya River Basin. We used rescaled adjusted partial sums ( RAPS ) to analyse the relationship between rainfall and various ocean indices, such as the Southern Oscillation Index ( SOI ), sea surface temperature indices and the Dipole Mode Index ( DMI ). Rainfall in the Chao Phraya River basin was strongly correlated with the SOI index. Furthermore, results of the analysis accounted for the location of the rainfall station and showed that rainfall in the high‐latitude area of the Chao Phraya River Basin was most highly correlated with the SOI index. However, sea surface temperature ( SST ) indices were more highly correlated with rainfall than the SOI index in the low‐latitude area.