This study analyzed gridded precipitation data of the Asian Precipitation HighlyResolved
Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation data set over the Indochina
peninsula during the boreal winter (December to February) from 1951 to 2007 to demonstrate
its variability. The empirical orthogonal function (EOF) technique was employed. The first
mode of EOF analysis accounts for about 42.6% of the total variance. The temporal variation
signal of the leading mode representing the variability shows interannual variation, and the
corresponding spatial pattern shows large changes in magnitude over the southern part and the
eastern coast of the Indochina. The variability was examined to reveal its correlation to the
sea surface temperature (SST) that indicates the relationship between rainfall variability and
SST in the Pacific Ocean. The results suggest that the El Nino/Southern Oscillation does not
high significantly influence the rainfall variability over Indochina during the winter season, in
contrast to the effects from the subtropical areas in the North Pacific Ocean. Further studies
are needed to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms in relation to the climate
variability over the Indochina.