A Quantitative Evaluation of ENSO Indices

Abstract El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a natural, coupled atmospheric–oceanic cycle that occurs in the tropical Pacific Ocean on an approximate timescale of 2–7 yr. ENSO events have been shown in previous studies to be related to regional extremes in weather (e.g., hurricane occurrences, frequency and severity of tornadoes, droughts, and floods). The teleconnection of ENSO events to extreme weather events means that the ability to classify an event as El Nino or La Nina is of interest in scientific and other applications. ENSO is most often classified using indices that indicate the warmth and coolness of equatorial tropical Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Another commonly used index is based on sea level pressure differences measured across the tropical Pacific Ocean. More recently, other indices have been proposed and have been shown to be effective in describing ENSO events. There is currently no consensus within the scientific community as to which of many indices best captures...

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