Abstract

In 2016, a very strong El Niño increased the amount of precipitation measured on Kiritimati Island (2 °N, 157.4 °W) during the El Niño Rapid Response (ENRR) field campaign. ENRR collected surface meteorological data from January-March 2016. This project focuses on daily precipitation data collect... Show moreIn 2016, a very strong El Niño increased the amount of precipitation measured on Kiritimati Island (2 °N, 157.4 °W) during the El Niño Rapid Response (ENRR) field campaign. ENRR collected surface meteorological data from January-March 2016. This project focuses on daily precipitation data collected from 1971-2016 during the time of year when ENRR took place, and evaluates how the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences the daily rainfall distribution on Kiritimati Island. We analyzed daily rainfall measurements from the automated weather station at the ENRR campaign site, and the official Kiribati Meteorological Service station (PLCH). The long-term data from PLCH (1971-1990, 1996-2003, and 2015-2016) provides a historical context which supports the study of the historical distribution of daily rainfall. We investigated the distribution of daily rainfall on the island during different phases of the ENSO phenomena and found the range of daily rainfall amounts increased as did the likelihood of rain in most rain-rate categories during the El Niño phase, compared to the neutral phase; and La Niña phase had higher probabilities of very little rainfall, narrower ranges of rainfall amounts, and reduced probability of high daily rainfall amount over the island. The daily rainfall collected at the ENRR compaign site matches the general aspects of the El Niño pattern obtained from the PLCH records. Our results provide useful reference for water resource management on the island and evaluation of ENSO impact on daily rainfall in different products of observational analysis and climate model simulations. Show less