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sindex_yrmo

Calculates the Southern Oscillation Index given two series of year-month values.

Prototype

	function sindex_yrmo (
		slpt [*][*] : numeric,  
		slpd [*][*] : numeric,  
		iprnt   [1] : integer   
	)

	return_val [dimsizes(slpt)] :  float or double

Arguments

slpt

A two-dimensional array of monthly data from station/grid point 1. Dimensions must be number of years by number of months.

slpd

A two-dimensional array of monthly data from station/grid point 2 (must have same dimensions as slpt).

iprnt

A scalar indicating whether to print information (0 means do not print).

Return value

This function returns a two-dimensional array with the same dimensions as slpt and slpd. The output array will be double if slpt or slptd are double, and float otherwise.

The attributes long_name, short_name, and units are returned as well.

Description

Given two series of year-month values (e.g slp), this function calculates an "index" (e.g. Southern Oscillation Index). The overall anomaly standard deviation is used to normalize the anomalies.

If you want to calculate the noise index as well, use snindex_yrmo.

Examples

Note: these code snippets contain examples of both functions sindex_yrmo and snindex_yrmo.

Example 1

begin
  nmos    = 12                         ; number of months
  nyrstrt = 1880                       ; first year of data
  nyrlast = 1997                       ; last year with data
  nyrs    = (nyrlast-nyrstrt+1)        ; total number of years
  xmsg    = -999.9                     ; missing value
  ncol    = nmos+1                     ; number of columns
  iprnt   = 1                          ; print soi out

; ================================>  ; READ THE ASCII FILES
  filet = asciiread ("tahiti.slp",(/nyrs,ncol/), "float")
  filed = asciiread ("darwin.slp",(/nyrs,ncol/), "float")
                                     ; create vector/arrays
  yr   = filet(:,0 )                   ; vector containing the years
  slpt = filet(:,1:)                   ; tahiti slp
  slpd = filed(:,1:)                   ; darwin slp
  slpt@_FillValue = xmsg
  slpd@_FillValue = xmsg

  soi = sindex_yrmo (slpt,slpd,iprnt)
  print("soi@_FillValue=" + soi@_FillValue)
  print(soi@long_name)
  print(soi@short_name)
  print(soi@units)

  xoi_noise = new ( (/nyrs,nmos/), float  )
  xoi = snindex_yrmo(slpt,slpd,iprnt,xoi_noise)
  print(xoi@long_name)
  print(xoi@short_name)
  print(xoi@units)
end

Example 2

Assume slp is dimensioned time x lat x lon and that the "time" dimension spans full years (i.e. for 50 years there are 12*50=600 time steps). Further assume the two grid points be at (lat1,lon1) and (lat2,lon2). Then:

   ntim = dimsizes(time)
   nyrs = ntim/12
   nmos = 12

   index = sindex_yrmo( onedtond(slp(:,{lat1},{lon1}), (/nyrs,nmos/))   \
                      , onedtond(slp(:,{lat2},{lon2}), (/nyrs,nmos/)), 0) 
   index@long_name = "my favorite index"
   index!0    = "time"
   index&time = time

Example 3

Same as example 2, but calculate signal and noise: