Monthly climatology of the equatorial hydrological cycle as observed from satellite and its connection to major equatorial climate indices

A climatology of the hydrological cycle is presented for the ±30 latitude band between Sep 2002 and Aug 2008 using Sea Surface Temperature, total water vapor, rain rate and Liquid Water Paths from AMSR-E as well as Temperature, water vapor, and RH profiles from AIRS. The annual cycle as well as the interannual variabiliby and anomalies are shown and compared to the timing of the climate signals of El Niño 2007, La Niña 2008, and to the QBO between 2002 and 2008. The comparison focuses on looking for temporal-lag correlations as a function of latitude, longitude, and height.