Annual and seasonal fluctuations of precipitation and streamflow in the Aconcagua River basin, Chile

Abstract

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon has been shown to influence dramatically precipitation and streamflow in tropical western South America. The statistical properties of annual and winter precipitation totals and streamflow characteristics in the Aconcagua River basin, in temperate central Chile, are investigated in such a way as to permit the identification of flood- and drought-generating processes and their possible linkages to upset behavior in the tropical Pacific. Despite the considerable distance to those regions generally associated with ENSO events, the phenomenon produces marked effects upon the various physical processes which govern the surface hydrometeorology of the study area. El Niño years result in significant increases in annual and winter precipitation, particularly along the coastal margin. The likelihood of rain or rain-on-snow flooding, in the succeeding winter, increases, as does the size of spring snowmelt in the southern summer, 1 year after the upset conditions in the tropical region. Annual low flows are of higher magnitude and occur earlier in the year than is usual.