The Southern Oscillation in the Australian Region. Part I: Anomalies at the Extremes of the Oscillation

Abstract

The response of the tropospheric circulation over Australia and the southwest Pacific to extremes of the Southern Oscillation is documented using correlation, regression, and compositing techniques applied to seasonal means of rawinsonde station data. A strong and seasonally varying signal is found in the four fields of geopotential height, temperature, zonal, and meridional wind components. The composite analysis shows that while the response to extremes of the oscillation is in general linear, some significant local nonlinear departures are observed.