southern oscillation A fluctuation of the intertropical atmospheric circulation, in particular in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, in which air moves between the SE Pacific subtropical high and the Indonesian equatorial low, driven by the temperature difference between the two areas. The general effect is that when pressure is high over the Pacific Ocean it tends to be low in the Indian Ocean, and vice versa. The phenomenon is strongly linked to El Niño.

southern oscillation A fluctuation of the intertropical atmospheric circulation, in particular in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, in which air moves between the south-eastern Pacific subtropical high and the Indonesian equatorial low, driven by the temperature difference between the two areas. The general effect is that when pressure is high over the Pacific Ocean it tends to be low in the Indian Ocean, and vice versa. The phenomenon is strongly lined to El Niño.