Translation speed of Easterly waves controls precipitation maxima over Western Africa

NCEP/NCAR and ECMWF daily reanalyses are used to investigate the synoptic variability of easterly waves over West Africa and tropical Atlantic at 700 hPa in northern summer between 1979–1995 (1979–1993 for ECMWF). Spectral analysis of the meridional wind component at 700 hPa highlighted two main periodicity bands, between 3 and 5 days, and 6 and 9 days. The 3–5-day easterly wave regime has already been widely investigated, but only on shorter datasets. These waves grow both north and south of the African Easterly Jet (AEJ). The two main tracks, noted over West Africa at 5 °N and 15 °N, converge over the Atlantic on latitude 17.5 °N. These waves are more active in August–September than in June–July. Their average wavelength/phase speed varies from about 3000 km/8 m s-1 north of the jet to 5000 km/12 m s-1 south of the jet. Rainfall, convection and monsoon flux are significantly modulated by these waves, convection in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) being enhanced in the trough and ahead of it, with a wide meridional extension. Compared to the 3–5-day waves, the 6–9-day regime is intermittent and the corresponding wind field pattern has both similar and contrasting characteristics. The only main track is located north of the AEJ along 17.5 °N both over West Africa and the Atlantic. The mean wavelength is higher, about 5000 km long, and the average phase speed is about 7 m s-1. Then the wind field perturbation is mostly evident at the AEJ latitude and north of it. The perturbation structure is similar to that of 3–5-days in the north except that the more developed circulation centers, moving more to the north, lead to a large modulation of the jet zonal wind component. South of the AEJ, the wind field perturbation is weaker and quite different. The zonal wind core of the jet appears to be an almost symmetric axis in the 6–9-day wind field pattern, a clockwise circulation north of the AEJ being associated with a counter-clockwise circulation south of the jet, and vice versa. These 6–9-day easterly waves also affect significantly rainfall, convection and monsoon flux but in a different way, inducing large zonal convective bands in the ITCZ, mostly in the trough and behind it. As opposed to the 3–5-day wave regime, these rainfall anomalies are associated with anomalies of opposite sign over the Guinea coast and the Sahelian regions. Over the continent, these waves are more active in June–July, and in August–September over the ocean. GATE phase I gave an example of such an active 6–9-day wave pattern. Considered as a sequence of weak easterly wave activity, this phase was also a sequence of high 6–9-day easterly wave activity. We suggest that the 6–9-day regime results from an interaction between the 3–5-day easterly wave regime (maintained by the barotropic/baroclinic instability of the AEJ), and the development of strong anticyclonic circulations, north of the jet over West Africa, and both north and south of the jet over the Atlantic, significantly affecting the jet zonal wind component. The permanent subtropical anticyclones (Azores, Libya, St Helena) could help initiation and maintenance of such regime over West Africa and tropical Atlantic. Based on an a priori period-band criterion, our synoptic classification has enabled us to point out two statistical and meteorological easterly wave regimes over West Africa and tropical Atlantic. NCEP/NCAR and ECMWF reanalyses are in good agreement, the main difference being a more developed easterly wave activity in the NCEP/NCAR reanalyses, especially for the 3–5-day regime over the Atlantic.

Observations show that rainfall over West Africa is influenced by the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). A number of mechanisms have been suggested: 1) forcing by equatorial waves; 2) enhanced monsoon moisture supply; and 3) increased African easterly wave (AEW) activity. However, previous observational studies are not able to unambiguously distinguish between cause and effect. Carefully designed model experiments are used to assess these mechanisms. Intraseasonal convective anomalies over West Africa during the summer monsoon season are simulated in an atmosphere-only global circulation model as a response to imposed sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies associated with the MJO over the equatorial warm pool region. 1) Negative SST anomalies stabilize the atmosphere leading to locally reduced convection. The reduced convection leads to negative midtropospheric latent heating anomalies that force dry equatorial waves. These waves propagate eastward (Kelvin wave) and westward (Rossby wave), reaching Africa approximately 10 days later. The associated negative temperature anomalies act to destabilize the atmosphere, resulting in enhanced monsoon convection over West and central Africa. The Rossby waves are found to be the most important component, with associated westward-propagating convective anomalies over West Africa. The eastward-propagating equatorial Kelvin wave also efficiently triggers convection over the eastern Pacific and Central America, consistent with observations. 2) An increase in boundary layer moisture is found to occur as a result of the forced convective anomalies over West Africa rather than a cause. 3) Increased shear on the African easterly jet, leading to increased AEW activity, is also found to occur as a result of the forced convective anomalies in the model.

Summary We perform Love wave tomography in Cameroon, West Africa by applying the ambient noise method to broadband data recorded at 32 stations from a temporary digital seismic network. Cross-correlations of transverse-component ambient noise data are computed in one-hour segments and stacked over 12 months from January to December 2006. Then Love wave group and phase dispersion curves from 5 to 30 s were measured using the frequency time analysis method. Tomographic inversion were performed on a 0.5° × 0.5° grid for 2-D group and phase velocity maps and jointly inverted for a unified isotropic 3-D shear wave velocity (Sh) model constrained reliably to a depth of 20 km. The velocity model shows variations in wave speed which reflects lateral heterogeneities that correlate well with surface geology in the study area. A broad fast shear wave velocity zone in southern Cameroon coincides with the Congo Craton and a conspicuous slow shear wave velocity is revealed along the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL), the northern boundary with Nigeria up to Garoua Rift. Our study concluded that the upper crustal structure exhibit a fair amount of homogeneity within the same region and heterogeneity between different regions suggesting little modification of the entire upper crust.

The aim of this study is to describe over the Atlantic Ocean and West Africa, the large scale differences between an inactive hurricane period (1991 - 1994) and an active hurricane period (1998 - 2001), before and during the peak of the cyclone season (May - June - July; MJJ and August- September - October; ASO). Over West Africa, the monsoon flow at low level extends more northward during the active period. This period is also characterized by the northward shift and the westward extension over the Atlantic Ocean of the African Easterly Jet (AEJ) and by the existence of a strong Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ). Moreover, intense low-level cyclonic vortices propagate in an unstable and weak sheared environment. These favorable conditions were generally present over Africa and over the North Atlantic Ocean during MJJ. The relationships between Atlantic cyclonic activity and the West African climate are strong during active cyclone years. African Easterly Waves (AEWs) are more intense and more frequent during the active period, both in their Sahelian and Gulf of Guinea tracks, while over the ocean, their activity and number decrease. During MJJ, the AEWs are more active over West Africa during active than inactive years. Key words: African easterly waves, tropical cyclones, African monsoon.

The association between rainfall over the Sahel and Sudan region and tropical storm activity in the Atlantic is examined using the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis and sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) from 1949 to 1998. Evidence indicates that both are influenced by global SSTAs. The SSTA modes generating favorable atmospheric conditions for tropical storms to develop are also in favor of a wet rainfall season in the Sahel and Sudan region. The easterly waves over West Africa become tropical storms only if the atmospheric conditions over the Atlantic are favorable. These conditions are responses to SSTAs. In addition to ENSO, a multidecadal trend mode also plays a role. The positive phase of the trend mode features positive loadings in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic, and negative loadings over the three southern oceans. The positive (negative) phases of both modes are associated with increased (reduced) Atlantic tropical storm activity, and with wet (dry) West African monsoon seasons. The SSTAs over the tropical South Atlantic (S-ATL) are related to the rainfall dipole over West Africa, but the influence on tropical storms is not large. Warm (cold) SSTAs over the tropical North Atlantic enhance (suppress) the occurrence of tropical storms, but have little influence on rainfall over West Africa. The most prominent circulation features associated with the positive phases of SSTA modes are enhanced upper-level 200-hPa easterly winds and reduced vertical wind shear in the main development region of the tropical Atlantic, which are well-known features of active Atlantic tropical storm seasons. The associated low-level flow shows enhanced anomalous westerly winds across the Atlantic to Africa. That allows more moisture transport into Africa and, therefore, more rainfall.

Synoptic‐scale easterly waves at 700 hPa have been studied over West Africa and the tropical Atlantic for the summers of 1979–1995. Spectral analyses (Fast Fourier and Wavelet Transforms) of 700 hPa meridional wind component along 17.5°N enable to point out two band‐periods, between 3 and 5 days and between 6 and 9 days. An example of each wave is shown. Composite analysis confirms the evidence of two such regimes of easterly waves during summer over West Africa and the tropical Atlantic. The 6–9‐day wave regime differ from the 3–5‐day wave regime by larger anticyclonic cells originated from the Libyan and the Azores areas, and by more northern tracks.

NCEP/GFS analysis is used to investigate the scale dependence and the interplay between the terms of the atmospheric water budget over West Africa using a dedicated decomposition methodology. The focus is on a 2-month period within the active monsoon period of 2006. Results show that the dominant scales of seasonal mean precipitation and moisture flux divergence over West Africa during the monsoon period are large scales (greater than 1,400 km) except over topography, where mean values of small scales (smaller than 900 km) are strong. Correlations between moisture flux divergences in monsoon and African Easterly Jet layers and precipitation indicate that precipitation is strongly correlated to moisture flux divergence via both large-scale and small-scale processes, but the correlation signal is quite different depending on the region and vertical layer considered. The analysis of the scales associated with the rainfall and the local evaporation over 3 different regions shows that positive correlation exists over the ocean between precipitation and evaporation especially at large scale. Over the continent south of the Sahel, the correlation is negative and driven by large scale. Over the northern part of Sahel, positive correlation is found, only at small scales during the active monsoon period. Lag correlation reveals that the maximum evaporation over the Sahel occurs 1–3 days after the maximum precipitation with maximum contribution from small-scale processes during the first day. This study shows that NCEP/GFS reproduces well the known atmospheric water budget features. It also reveals a new scale dependence of the relative role of each term of the atmospheric water budget. This indicates that such scale decomposition approach is helpful to clarify the functioning of the water cycle embedded in the monsoon system.

This article presents an overview of the land ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) over West Africa, based on analysis of NCAR–NCEP Reanalysis data. The picture that emerges is much different than the classic one. The most important feature is that the ITCZ is effectively independent of the system that produces most of the rainfall. Rainfall linked directly to this zone of surface convergence generally affects only the southern Sahara and the northern-most Sahel, and only in abnormally wet years in the region. A second feature is that the rainbelt normally assumed to represent the ITCZ is instead produced by a large core of ascent lying between the African Easterly Jet and the Tropical Easterly Jet. This region corresponds to the southern track of African Easterly Waves, which distribute the rainfall. This finding underscores the need to distinguish between the ITCZ and the feature better termed the “tropical rainbelt”. The latter is conventionally but improperly used in remote sensing studies to denote the surface ITCZ over West Africa. The new picture also suggests that the moisture available for convection is strongly coupled to the strength of the uplift, which in turn is controlled by the characteristics of the African Easterly Jet and Tropical Easterly Jet, rather than by moisture convergence. This new picture also includes a circulation feature not generally considered in most analyses of the region. This feature, a low-level westerly jet termed the African Westerly Jet, plays a significant role in interannual and multidecadal variability in the Sahel region of West Africa. Included are discussions of the how this new view relates to other aspects of West Africa meteorology, such as moisture sources, rainfall production and forecasting, desertification, climate monitoring, hurricanes and interannual variability. The West African monsoon is also related to a new paradigm for examining the interannual variability of rainfall over West Africa, one that relates changes in annual rainfall to changes in either the intensity of the rainbelt or north–south displacements of this feature. The new view presented here is consistent with a plethora of research on the synoptic and dynamic aspects of the African Easterly Waves, the disturbances that are linked to rainfall over West Africa and spawn hurricanes over the Atlantic, and with our knowledge of the prevailing synoptic and dynamic features. This article demonstrate a new aspect of the West Africa monsoon, a bimodal state, with one mode linked to dry conditions in the Sahel and the other linked to wet conditions. The switch between modes appears to be linked to an inertial instability mechanism, with the cross-equatorial pressure gradient being a critical factor. The biomodal state has been shown for the month of August only, but this month contributes most of the interannual variability. This new picture of the monsoon and interannual variability shown here appears to be relevant not only to interannual variability, but also to the multidecadal variability evidenced in the region between the 1950s and 1980s.

The dominant mode of convectively coupled Kelvin waves has been detected over the Atlantic and Africa during northern summer by performing composite analyses on observational fields based on an EOF reconstructed convection index over West Africa. Propagating eastward, many waves originate from the Pacific sector, interact with deep convection of the marine ITCZ over the Atlantic and the continental ITCZ over West and central Africa, and then weaken over East Africa and the Indian Ocean. It has been shown that they are able to modulate the life cycle and track of individual westward-propagating convective systems. Their mean kinematic characteristics comprise a wavelength of 8000 km, and a phase speed of 15 m s−1, leading to a period centered on 6 to 7 days. The African Kelvin wave activity displays large seasonal variability, being highest outside of northern summer when the ITCZ is close to the equator, facilitating the interactions between convection and these equatorially trapped waves. The convective and dynamical patterns identified over the Atlantic and Africa show some resemblance to the theoretical equatorially trapped Kelvin wave solution on an equatorial β plane. Most of the flow is in the zonal direction as predicted by theory, and there is a tendency for the dynamical fields to be symmetric about the equator, even though the ITCZ is concentrated well north of the equator at the full development of the African monsoon. In the upper troposphere and the stratosphere, the temperature contours slope sharply eastward with height, as expected from an eastward-moving heat source that forces a dry Kelvin wave response. It is finally shown that the mean impact of African Kelvin waves on rainfall and convection is of the same level as African easterly waves.

A three-day workshop took place at Howard University in Washington D.C. 27 July through 29 July 2000 to examine scientific and social issues associated with climate research in West Africa. Atmospheric scientists from West Africa and United States presented research and sought solutions to various problems that exist with respect to the state of science in West Africa. Presentations covered global climate model (GCM) and regional climate model simulations for West Africa, easterly wave representation in GCMs and the NCEP reanalysis, land-surface processes and atmospheric chemistry. A number of obstacles currently inhibit West African-U.S. collaboration including a lack of resources, communications, technology, and language. In order to overcome these obstacles, sustained efforts by numerous individuals in United States and West Africa are necessary. An institute in West Africa should be identified that can serve as a center for education, research, and a base for international field studies in th...

Differences in the basic state over West Africa between wet and dry years are well documented. This study investigates whether there are also observable differences in the easterly waves between wet and dry years and if these differences might be attributed to the changes in the basic state. Contrasting basic states from the rainy seasons of the four wet years (1958–61) and four dry years (1982–85) were derived from the NCEP reanalysis. The basic states served as input for the linear instability model. The model results indicated faster growth rates and greater phase speeds in the wet years. These results were consistent with a wavelet analysis of the 600-mb meridional wind. This analysis showed that waves were stronger and tended to have a greater contribution from the longer periods during the wet years. The differences in the waves appear to be due to the greater horizontal and vertical shear in wet years. The relative importance of these two were assessed using the Charney–Stern necessary condition for instability. It appears that the horizontal shear is more important in causing the differences. Although the baroclinic and barotropic terms were of similar magnitude in dry years, in wet years the barotropic term increased significantly, whereas the baroclinic term did not. Implications of the results for the understanding of interannual and interdecadal rainfall variability over West Africa are discussed.

<p>Rainfall variability over West Africa remains a major challenge for numerical weather prediction (NWP). Due to the largely stochastic and sub-grid nature of tropical convection, current NWP models still fail to provide reliable precipitation forecasts – even for a 1-day leadtime – and are barely more skillful than climatology-based forecasts. Thus, several recent studies have investigated the presumably more predictable influence of tropical waves on environmental conditions for convection and found distinct and coherent (thermo-)dynamical patterns depending on the type and phase of the wave. Of particular interest in this context is the interaction of the wave with the lifecycle of usually westward propagating mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), which are the major providers of rain in the region and can occasionally even lead to flooding. The exact mechanisms and strength of this interaction are still not entirely known.</p><p>This study combines two recent datasets in a novel way in order to systematically investigate the influence of tropical waves on MCS characteristics and lifecycle. First, MCSs are tracked within northern tropical Africa (20°W-30°E / 2°-15°N) over an 11-year period during the West African rainy season (April-October) using infrared brightness temperature fields provided by the Spinning enhanced visible and infrared imager (SEVIRI). Second, tropical waves are isolated by applying a filtering method in the wave-frequency domain to precipitation data of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) within the 5°-15°N latitude band for the same target period. By combining the two datasets in space and time, the magnitude and phase of each wave is known at every timestep of the MCS tracks, which enables a systematic investigation of MCS characteristics as a function of wave properties.</p><p>Preliminary results suggest that long-lived MCSs (lifetime ≥ 12h) frequently couple with the “wet” phase of high-frequency tropical waves, in particular Kelvin, eastward inertia-gravity (EIG), and African easterly waves (AEW). Showing an enhanced occurrence frequency of MCS initiation, the wet phase of AEWs appears to have strong modulation capabilities during the genesis stage and further accompanies these long-lived MCSs during their entire lifetime. In the case of Kelvin waves and EIGs, the wet phase overlaps only with the intensification and maturity stage of these MCSs as a consequence of opposite directions of movement. Similar coupling patterns also exist for mixed Rossby gravity waves (MRGs), although to a weaker extent. Furthermore, no consistent coupling tendencies with long-lived MCSs are evident for low-frequency waves (Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), equatorial Rossby wave (ER)), arguably since they act on larger spatio-temporal scales. For short-lived MCSs (lifetime < 6h), the coupling with high-frequency waves is substantially weaker.</p><p>In the future we will also address potential influences of wave-wave interactions on MCSs as well as potential differences in coupling mechanisms between the Guinea Coast region and the Sahel farther north. With increasing efforts in the prediction of tropical waves, this study has the potential to aid the short-term forecasting of MCS development and its lifecycle. This can be of particular importance for the anticipation of extreme rainfall events and subsequent risk assessment in West Africa.</p>

Satellite-based climatological analyses show a sharp contrast between the fractional convective and stratiform rainfall over Africa and its neighboring eastern Atlantic water. While convective rainfall dominates over continental Africa, stratiform precipitation dominates the rainfall totals over the eastern Atlantic. The convective maximum over land is mainly contributed by numerous mesoscale convective systems (MCSs). At the same time, the diurnal peak of precipitation exhibits a maximum just offshore from western Africa. To this end, the objective of this study is to use a phenomenon-based approach to investigate the sharp rainfall morphology contrast between continental Africa and the eastern Atlantic while also relating that contrast to the climatological precipitation maximum off western Africa. We hypothesize that MCSs coming off Africa structurally change as they move off continental Africa and into the maritime environment over the Atlantic. To test this hypothesis, we use primarily hindcasts produced during NASA’s Convective Processes Experiment - Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV) field campaign using the Model for Prediction Across Scales - Atmosphere (MPAS-A). This model was configured with a convection-permitting mesh extending from eastern Africa to the western Atlantic, thus covering the extensive tracks of multiple MCSs as they propagated offshore into the Atlantic. Results show that MCSs in MPAS-A transition from mature trailing stratiform systems over land to decaying stratiform systems over water. Further analysis will investigate if shear-cold pool dynamics can explain this behavior, and how such dynamics change with the time of day. 

This paper explores a new mechanism for in situ genesis of easterly waves (EWs) over the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean (EPAC). Using an idealized primitive equation model, it is shown that EWs can be triggered by finite-amplitude transient heating close to the midlevel jet at about 15°N over the EPAC and intra-Americas sea region. The atmospheric response to heating initiates EWs downstream, showing an EW structure within 4 days, with a wavelength and propagation speed of about 2000 km and 4.6 m s−1, respectively, resembling EWs described in the literature. The most sensitive location for EW initiation from finite-amplitude transient heating is located over the northern part of South America and extends to the EPAC. The closer the heating is to the jet, the bigger the response is. A stratiform heating profile is the most efficient at triggering EPAC EWs. Comparisons of simulated EWs over the EPAC and West Africa reveal similar structures but with a shorter wavelength and much weaker amplitudes over the EPAC. EPAC EWs are dominated by horizontal tilts against the shear on the equatorial side of the jet, consistent with barotropic growth, with weaker low-level amplitudes relative to those seen over West Africa. These differences arise from differences in the mean state EPAC having a shorter and weaker midlevel jet with less baroclinicity.

The in situ generation of easterly waves (EWs) in the east Pacific (EPAC) is investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. The sensitivity of the model to the suppression of EW forcing by locally generated convective disturbances is examined. Specifically, local forcing of EWs is removed by reducing the terrain height in portions of Central and South America to suppress robust sources of diurnal convective variability, most notably in the Panama Bight. High terrain contributes to the initiation of mesoscale convective systems in the early morning that propagate westward into the EPAC warm pool. When such mesoscale convective systems are suppressed in the model, EW variance is significantly reduced. This result suggests that EPAC EWs can be generated locally in association with higher-frequency convective disturbances, and these disturbances are determined to be an important source of EPAC EW variability. However, EPAC EW variability is not completely eliminated in such sensitivity experiments, indicating the importance for other sources of EW forcing, namely, EWs propagating into the EPAC from West Africa. Examination of the EW vorticity budget in the model suggests that nascent waves are zonally elongated and amplified by horizontal advection and vertical stretching of vorticity. Changes in the mean state between the control run and simulation with reduced terrain height also complicate interpretation of the results.