Enso and climate variability in Papua

Abstract

The interaction of sea-atmosphere in the middle and east equators of the Pacific Ocean identified as El-Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is one of the interannual climate variability in Indonesia. Extremes phase ENSO, EL-Niño, and La-Niña have significant impacts on all sectors including agriculture, maritime, fishery, healthy, forest fire, transportation, etc. To anticipate ENSO impacts, it is required to identify the impacts of ENSO on climate variability in specific regions. In this study, we analyze the impact of ENSO on rainfall characteristics in several areas in Papua Islands namely Merauke, Jayapura, Manokwari, and Wamena. The result of the analysis reveals that the rainfall characteristics in Merauke, Jayapura, Manokwari, and Wamena are influenced by ENSO with different influences among areas. In general, onset of the rainy season is earlier in La Nina years in comparison to the normal year and the onset of the dry season is come in advance in El-Niño years. The annual rainfall in La-Nina year is higher than in normal years and El-Niño year is lower than in normal years. The anomaly of rainfall as impact ENSO varies differently among areas in Papua.