Severe Drought Event in Indonesia Following 2015/16 El Niño/positive Indian Dipole Events

Abstract

During boreal fall and winter 2015/16, Indonesia experienced catastrophic drought event causing many environmental problems. This study explored dynamical evolution of drought event in Indonesia associated with those two climate modes. Based on the Niño3.4 index, the evolution of the El Niño has started in April 2015, reached its peak in January 2016 and terminated in April 2016. Meanwhile, the Dipole Mode Index (DMI) revealed that the evolution of positive Indian Ocean Dipole has started in August, reached its peak in September and terminated in November 2015. It is shown that during those two events, Indonesia experienced severe drought in which the precipitation was extremely decreased. During the peak drought condition co-occurring with the dry season, the anomalous of precipitation reached -450 mm/month in September 2015. The peak of the drought was associated with the El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) patterns, in which negative SSTA covered the eastern tropical Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean including Indonesia seas. Meanwhile, positive SSTA observed in the western tropical Indian Ocean and Eastern Pacific Ocean.