Hi Dr Michelle L'Heureux, A very interesting article on El Nino explained variance. In fact, we have done similar analysis, but with different spatial domains than those presented here. I hope you will find the following paper interesting. Any comments are more than welcome. Lai et al. (2015) at Climate Dynamics. http://www.springer.com/-/6/8869f19787284327b483b6b74025e76b Regards, Andy Lai