Dynamics of Wet & Dry Years

 
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Dynamics of Wet & Dry Years
SST's and El Nino
Surface Radiation and Energy Balance
Easterly Waves
Modelling

 

 To study the factors that produce wet and dry years we have studied the seasonal cycle and interannual variability of circulation features over various regions of Africa. Emphasis has been on the West African Sahel, but more recent work deals with equatorial Africa, including the Guinea Coast and the central and western sectors of "equatorial" Africa. Various studies examine the links between jets streams, waves, vertical motion, convergence, moisture transport and rainfall variability. We are commencing studies of the links between these and mesoscale systems and the relationship between Himalayan snowfall and the Tropical Easterly Jet.
 
  1. 2003: The Seasonal Evolution of the Atmospheric Circulation over West Africa and Equatorial Africa. Journal of Climate: Vol. 16, No. 7, pp. 1013–1030. Sharon E. Nicholson and Jeremy P. Grist.
  2. Rainfall Variabilty, Grist2001: A Study of the Dynamic Forces Influencing Rainfall Variability in the West Africa Sahel (with J. P. Grist). Journal of Climate, 14, 1337-1359.
  3. 2001: A simple conceptual model for understanding rainfall variability in the West African Sahel on interannual and interdecadal time scales (S. E. Nicholson and J. P. Grist ). International Journal of Climatology, in press.
  4. Interannual Variability2000: Interannual Variability in Rainfall, Water Vapor Flux, and Vertical Motion over West Africa. (with M. Long and D. Entekhabi) Journal of Climate, 13, 3827-3841.
  5. 1998: Interannual variability in rainfall, water vapour flux, and vertical motion over West Africa (Long, M., D. Entekhabi, and S.E. Nicholson). InWater resources variability in Africa during the XXth Century (E. Servat, D. Hughes, J.-M;. Fritsch and M. Hulme, eds.), IAHS Press, Wallingford, UK, 27-34.
  6. 1996: Africa. Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather (S.H. Schneider, ed.), Simon Schuster, New York, 13-19.
  7. 1996: A review of climate dynamics and climate variability in eastern Africa. The limnology, climatology and paleoclimatology of the East African lakes (T.C. Johnson and E. Odada, eds.), Gordon and Breach, Amsterdam, 25-56.
  8. 1989: African Drought: Characteristics, Causal Theories and Global Teleconnections. Understanding Climate Change (A. Berger, R.E. Dickinson and J.W. Kidson, ed.), American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., 79-100.