Investigating links between rainfall variations in the Ogooué River basin and ENSO in the Pacific Ocean over the period 1940–1999

Abstract

This paper investigates links between rainfall variability in the Ogooué River Basin (ORB) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific Ocean. Recent hydroclimatology studies of the ORB and surrounding areas resulting in contrasting conclusions about links between rainfall variability and ENSO. Thus, to make the issue clearer, this study investigates the links between ENSO and rainfall in the ORB over the period 1940–1999. The principal component analysis of monthly rainfall in the ORB was done. The temporal mode of the first component corresponds to the interannual variations of rainfall on the ORB. Also, the pattern of the spatial mode of the first component shows that the ORB is a homogeneous hydroclimatic zone. However, no leading mode is significantly correlated to the ENSO index. A cross-wavelet analysis of the time series of basin-scale rainfall and the ENSO index was therefore carried out. The result is a set of periodogram structures corresponding to some ENSO episodes recorded over the study period. And wavelet coherence analysis of both time series confirms that there are significant links between ENSO and rainfall in the ORB.