Abstract
This chapter introduces the physical and meteorological conditions that define the climate of West Africa on the continental scale. Two of the most important climatic surface variables in West Africa are rainfall (P) and actual evapotranspiration (ET). A common approach to infer reasonable patterns of ET is to force an ensemble of land surface models with observed rainfall, radiation and other reanalysed surface meteorological variables. The inland penetration of the West African monsoon (WAM) in the summer months is determined by the recycling of water at the surface, through P-ET, and by the horizontal transport and mixing of water vapour and clouds in the atmosphere. The chapter continues with observables closely tied to the energy and bio-terrestrial water cycle of the WAM. Finally, it deals with climatologies of some classical surface observables recorded at weather stations, such as pressure, temperature, humidity and wind.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Meteorology of Tropical West Africa |
| Subtitle of host publication | The Forecasters' Handbook |
| Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
| Chapter | 1 |
| Pages | 1-39 |
| Number of pages | 40 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781118391297 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781118391303 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 8 Feb 2017 |
Keywords
- Bio-terrestrial water cycle
- Evapotranspiration climatology
- Rainfall climatology
- Seasonal cycle
- Water vapour
- Weather stations
- West African climate
- West African monsoon