Teleconnections between Atlantic SSTA and Summer Palmer Drought Severity Index in Europe

Monthly sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the Atlantic (400S- 400N; 750W-100E) for the period 1948-1993 have been expanded in EOF (Empirical Orthogonal Functions) separately for each month. Monthly Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) during the summer for 5 regions has been considered. We defined a drought index using the first EOF components of the temperature and precipitation fields (EOFDI). Our drought index is comparable with the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). We studied the direct influence of SSTA on the moisture variability across Europe by means of drought index, both by considering significant EOF components of SSTA and the SSTA series defined in each point from 216 points on the ocean. The statistical significant results are different; they depend on the season and the geographic position in Europe of the studied zone.(Author)