Impact of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the Precipitable Water Vapor in Thailand from Long Term GPS Observation

Abstract

This paper presents the impact of the ENSO incident in Thailand based on precipitation water vapor (PWV) data obtained from GPS measurements using GPS PWV data from 2007-2016 from 11 stations of the Public Works Department and town planning to determine the relationship between PWV and Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies (SSTa). It was found that between the La Niña and El Niño events, there was a moderate to severe correlation between PWV and SSTa at all stations, respectively, but was noted for SRTN and SOKA stations located near the southern coast of Thailand. The relationship turned out to be the opposite, that is, during the La Niña events there was a high correlation, but during the El Niño event, there was no correlation. Moreover, the correlation of all stations had the exact same negative. The study results concluded that the La Niña event directly affected PWV, especially in 2011. PWV declines would result in severe flooding and storms. El Niño also affected PWV, causing the rainy season to come later with less rain.