Spatial pattern of North Atlantic Oscillation impact on rainfall in Serbia

Abstract

This study examines the spatial pattern of relationships between annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall in Serbia, and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) for the period of 1961-2009. The first correlation analysis between rainfall and the NAO was performed using a Pearson product-moment test. Results suggested negative, mainly statistically significant correlations at annual and winter scales as was expected. However, the highest percentage of stations showed significant result in October suggesting a strong impact of a large scale atmospheric mode throughout a wet season in Serbia. Further spatial analysis that incorporated a spatial autocorrelation statistic of correlation coefficients showed significant clustering at all temporal scales.