MJO teleconnections to crop growing seasons

While many Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) teleconnections are well documented, the significance of these teleconnections to agriculture is not well understood. Here we analyze how the MJO affects the climate during crop flowering seasons, when crops are particularly vulnerable to abiotic stress. Because the MJO is located in the tropics of the summer hemisphere and maize is a tropical, summer-grown crop, the MJO teleconnections to maize flowering seasons are stronger and more coherent than those to wheat, which tends to be grown in midlatitudes and flowers during the spring. The MJO significantly affects not only daily average precipitation and soil moisture, but also the probability of extreme precipitation, soil moisture and maximum temperatures during crop flowering seasons. The average influence on the probability of extreme daily precipitation, soil moisture, and maximum temperature events is roughly equal. On average the MJO modifies the probability of a 5th or 95th, 10th or 90th, and 25th or 75th percentile event by ∼ 2.5