© 2015 Faculty of Geography UGM and The Indonesian Geographers Association Relationships between Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and rainfall distribution pattern in South-Central Java, Indonesia

Abstract Although there has been a high relationship between global climate and rainfall in Indonesia, little evidence is available for relationship between Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and rainfall pattern in highland of country. This study evaluates the relationships between Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and rainfall distribution pattern in Gunungkidul dis-trict, highland of South-Central Java, Indonesia. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) approach was used to summarize the average of SSTs during rainy season (October to March) for the El Niño monitoring regions: IOBW (Indian Ocean Basin-Wide), Niño.West and Niño.3. Monthly rainfall data was collected from Agricultural Government of Gunungk-idul district. In this area, rainfall was highest in the southern and western mountainous areas, especially near the coast, and SSTs values were highly correlated with rainfall in those areas. Almost all sub districts in Gunungkidul district has significant correlations between PC1 SSTs and rainfall during October-November-December (OND). Abstrak Meskipun telah ada hubungan yang tinggi antara iklim global dan curah hujan di Indonesia, sedikit bukti yang tersedia untuk hubungan antara Sea Surface Temperature (SST) dan pola curah hujan di dataran tinggi negara. Studi ini mengevaluasi hubungan antara Suhu Permukaan Laut (SST) dan pola distribusi curah hujan di Kabupaten Gunungkidul, dataran tinggi Jawa Tengah bagian selatan, Indonesia. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) pendekatan yang digunakan untuk meringkas rata-rata SPL selama musim hujan (Oktober-Maret) untuk wilayah pemantauan El Niño: IOBW (Indian Ocean Basin-lebar), Niño.West dan Niño.3. Data curah hujan bulanan dikumpulkan dari Pemerintah Pertanian Kabupat