Spatiotemporal Variability of Precipitation and Its Statistical Relations to ENSO in the High Andean Rio Bogotá Watershed, Colombia

Abstract

Sustainable management of biodiversity requires a thorough understanding of local climate and weather, particularly in areas where ecosystems have been degraded and where life is highly adapted to or dependent on narrow ecological niches. Furthermore, society, economy, and culture of urban agglomerations are directly affected by the quality and quantity of services provided by adjacent ecosystems, which makes knowledge of regional characteristics and impact of climate variability crucial. Here, we present precipitation data from six meteorological stations spread across several orographic zones of the eastern Andes in the surroundings of Bogotá, Colombia’s biggest urban agglomeration. The time series of rainfall data are analyzed statistically, examined regarding the occurrence of cyclicity in relation to ENSO, and correlated to the multivariate El Niño–Southern Oscillation index (MEI). Results offer no conclusive ENSO-related cycles but show that data of most of the stations are marked by annual or semestral cyclicity. There is no straightforward correlation between MEI and monthly precipitation values, and neither filtered nor lagged values showed any conclusive and significant correlation. Stations within the same orographic zones do not necessarily bring forth comparable statistical results. Temporal and spatial properties of precipitation appear to result from micro- and mesoscale topoclimates rather than from ENSO variability.