The Effect of El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on Ethiopian Seasonal Rainfall

Singular value decomposition (SVD) method is used to investigate the covariability between Ethiopian June to September (JJAS) rainfall anomalies and the anomalous sea surface temperature (SST) in Pacific Ocean based on precipitation and SST reanalysis data sets. Results show that significant coupled modes of variability exist, with the first dominant coupled mode explaining 68.31%. The spatial pattern shows a strong negative loading of SST in the central and eastern part of Pacific Ocean, and below (above) normal rainfall in southern part of Ethiopia. The findings from this study give insight into the influence of El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events (Pacific Ocean) on Ethiopian JJAS rainfall.