IOD turns positive

• A positive Indian Ocean Dipole pattern has started to emerge to the northwest of Australia, increasing the likelihood of abnormally warm and dry weather over large parts of Australia.

ABOUT INDIAN OCEAN DIPOLE

• The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) refers to an index that measures sea surface temperatures across eastern and western tropical Indian Ocean.
• It is also called Indian Nino.
• A positive IOD occurs when warmer than average water builds up in the western tropical Indian Ocean, near the Horn of Africa, and unusually cold water lies in the eastern Indian Ocean, near Indonesia.
• By contrast, negative IOD events occur when abnormally cool water lies near the Horn of Africa and unusually warm water sits near Indonesia.
• The positive IOD event is known to help the South-West monsoon and rainfall in African coast and vice versa.