Efforts are under way to refine the content and delivery of seasonal predictions. Potential agricultural users of seasonal climate forecasts have been surveyed to determine what variables should be predicted, and what level of accuracy and lead time is needed. At present, the Bureau of Meteorology only forecasts seasonal (3 month) rainfall. Yet there is a need for temperature forecasts, and for more specific indices, eg., the severity of the frost season. Some of these other variables could be forecast using current techniques and predictors, with a small amount of further development.
For the ENSO, the lead-lag correlation between the rainfall variability and the Nino3.4
shows less significant correlation than that of the SA in the North Pacific Ocean, and the
significant correlation coefficients are negative (Fig. 5b). The negative correlation between
the PC1 and Nino3.4 indicates the increasing (decreasing) of rainfall over the Indochina
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related to cool (warm) phase of ENSO, but it is not strong, comparing to the SA in the North
Pacific Ocean, in terms of linear relationship.