Oscillations and teleconnections - The Global Climate System: Patterns, Processes, and Teleconnections - page 28

Table 2.2 Examples of teleconnections involving two regions

Variable 1 Variable 2

Surface pressure in Indonesia Surface pressure in the eastern Pacific

Precipitation over Australia Precipitation over India

Ocean temperature in the eastern tropical
Pacific

Upper-level air pressure over the northern Rocky
Mountains

Ocean temperature in the eastern tropical
Pacific

Rainfall in the southeastern United States

Surface temperature in Greenland Surface temperature in northern Europe

Ocean temperature in the central tropical
Pacific

Ocean temperature in the tropical Indian Ocean

Low-level east-west airflow over the Indian
Ocean

Low-level east-west airflow over the tropical Pacific
Ocean

Ocean temperature in the eastern tropical
Pacific

Strength of upper-level westerly wind flow in the North
Pacific

Rainfall in northeast Brazil Ocean surface temperature in the eastern tropical

Pacific

Rainfall in the sub-Saharan area of Africa Surface pressure difference between the Indonesian

and tropical east Pacific areas

Upper-level pressure in the subtropical
regions of the west Atlantic

Upper-level pressure in the polar region of the
North Atlantic

Upper-level pressure in the western
subtropical Pacific area

Upper-level pressure in the North Pacific area

Note: Correlations may be either positive or negative for the variables listed. In all cases, the variables
are for monthly or seasonally averaged times and for a broad area in the regions listed.
Source: After D. D. Houghton, 1996. Teleconnections, in S. H. Schneider, ed., Encyclopedia of Weather
and Climate, New York: Oxford University Press, p. 743.

completed using appropriate computer programs; for those wishing to further
investigate the EOFs, the outline provided by Barry and Carleton ( 2001 ) will
prove useful.
A second method of teleconnection analysis is through the computation of
correlation maps. In this, for example, the correlation coefficient between sea level
pressures at a selected location is compared to that at all grid points north of 208 N.
Many similar examples are found in teleconnection studies (Peixoto and Oort 1992 ).

2.1.3 Major identified oscillations and teleconnections
Ongoing research has identified or suggested a number of oscillations and result-
ing teleconnections. It need be noted that a number of patterns that form part of