Philippine Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
ISSN-0119-7312
The Philippine Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering is published annually by the Agricultural Mechanization Development Program, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology, University of the Philippines Los Banos
The PJABE is a refereed journal which aims to serve as a national venue for the dissemination of information on recent research and development in the field of agricultural and biosystems engineering.
Spatial and Temporal Variations of the La Nina Phenomenon in the Philippines
ABSTRACT
La Nina is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific region. This study aimed to provide an in-depth analysis of spatio-temporal variability of La Nina occurrences in the Philippines. Interpolated maps of percent rainfall deviation of seven La Nina episodes from 1971 to 2004 were generated. Comparison of rice yield against La Ninayears was done. The onset and recovery of La Nina events in the Philippines were also determined and compared with the cold episodes in the tropical pacific. Results showed that monthly rainfall varies spatially and temporally. La Nina events do not have equally strong effects on the Philippine climate as every event is of a different duration, magnitude, direction, and intensity. However, longer period of onset and recovery in the Philippines was observed during the period of cold episodes in the tropical pacific as exhibited by most of the seven episodes in this study. These findings will help provide the farmers and policy makers additional vital information for coping with the threat of La Nina episodes.
Keywords: La Niña, cold episodes, Sea Surface Temperature (SST), spatial, temporal
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The Managing Editor
AMDP, IAE, CEAT
University of the Philippines Los Banos
College, Laguna 4031 Philippines
e-mail address: mariavictorialarona@yahoo.com
