Progress in understanding of weather systems in West Africa

Jean-Philippe Lafore (1) , Cyrille Flamant (2) , Françoise Guichard (1) , D. J. Parker (3) , Dominique Bouniol (1) , A. H. Fink (3) , V. Giraud (4) , M. Gosset (5) , N. M.J. Hall (6) , H. Höller (7) , S. C. Jones (8) , Alain Protat (9, 2) , Rémy Roca (10) , Frank Roux (11) , Frédérique Saïd (11) , C. Thorncroft (12)

1 CNRM - Centre national de recherches météorologiques
2 SPACE - LATMOS
3 SEE - School of Earth and Environment [Leeds]
4 LaMP - Laboratoire de météorologie physique
5 HYBIS
6 OLVAC - Océan du Large et Variabilité Climatique
7 IPA - DLR Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre = DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics
8 IMK - Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research
9 CAWCR - Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research
10 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
11 LAERO - Laboratoire d'aérologie
12 University at Albany [SUNY]

The major advances achieved during African monsoon multidisciplinary analysis in our physical understanding of the West African monsoon (WAM) system are reviewed. Recent research provides an advanced understanding of key WAM features. The Saharan heat low, the interactions of the monsoon flow with the surface and the reversed flow on top of it, all play a more important role than previously assumed, and interact according to the phase of the diurnal cycle of convection. Recent studies also emphasise the significance of upstream conditions in Central and East Africa, as well as strong interactions between midlatitudes and the WAM.

Mots clés: African monsoon; Heat low; African easterly jet; Convection; Atmospheric boundary layer; Tropical-extratropical interactions

Domaines: Climatologie

Jean-Philippe Lafore, Cyrille Flamant, Françoise Guichard, D. J. Parker, Dominique Bouniol, et al.. Progress in understanding of weather systems in West Africa. Atmospheric Science Letters, 2011, 12 (1), pp.7-12. ⟨10.1002/asl.335⟩. ⟨hal-00569956⟩