Influence of oceanic-atmospheric interactions on extreme events of daily rainfall in the Sub-basin 39 located in Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT Changes in extreme precipitation have been observed in regions where frequent rainfalls occur over short periods of time followed by prolonged droughts, creating, as a result, new watershed scenarios. Recent studies have attributed such occurrences to possible climate changes. This paper analyzes the correlation between extreme events recorded in the Sub-basin 39, located in Northeastern Brazil, and the anomalies caused by sea surface temperature - SST and the atmospheric systems operating in the region. Pearson correlation coefficients have been used combined with the variables analyzed. For such, trends in precipitation have been obtained by using the method of least squares together with linear regression and the Student's t test. The results obtained have demonstrated that due to the geographical position of the region investigated, both maximum extreme events (areas with positive trends) and minimum extreme events (areas with negative trends) are more dependent on the Dipole Atlantic than on the effects of El Niño Southern Oscillation - ENOS.