SST's and El Nino

 
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Dynamics of Wet & Dry Years
SST's and El Nino
Surface Radiation and Energy Balance
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 Numerous studies by members of the lab have investigated the interrelationships among El Nino, La Nina, sea-surface temperatures and African rainfall variability. We have identified the locations with El Nino and La Nina signals, the time scales of variability, the seasonal evolution of anomalies within El Nino and La Nina, the development of warming episodes in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the conditions under which an individual el Nino episode does or does not have an impact in Africa. Current work focuses on 1) the effect of SSTs and ENSO on western equatorial Africa, 2) the impact of Gulf of Guinea SSTs on the location of the African Easterly Jet and 3) the general impact of Atlantic SSTs on African rainfall.
  1. 2003: Comments on “The South Indian Convergence Zone and Interannual Rainfall Variability over Southern Africa” and the Question of ENSO's Influence on Southern Africa. Journal of Climate: Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 555–562. Sharon Nicholson.
  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. El Nino over Botswana2001: The Relationship between El Nino and Drought over Botswana. (with D. Leposo, J. Grist) Journal of Climate, 14, 323-335.
  4. La Nina on African Rainfall2000: The Influence of La Nina on African Rainfall. (with J.C. Selato) International Journal of Climatology, 20, 1761-1776.
  5. Rain West Africa2000: An Analysis of Recent Rainfall Conditions in West Africa, Including the Rainy Seasons of the 1997 El Niño and the 1998 La Niña Years (with B. Some and B. Kone). Journal of Climate, 13, 2628-2640.
  6. El Nino1997: The Relationship of the El-Niño Southern Oscillation to African Rainfall (with J. Kim). International Journal of Climatology, 17, 117-135.
  7. ENSO1997: An Analysis of the ENSO Signal in the Tropical Atlantic and Western Indian Oceans. International Journal of Climatology, 17, 345-375.
  8. ENSO Corr.1997: Correction: An Analysis of the Enso Signal in the Tropical Atlantic and Western Indian Oceans. International Journal of Climatology, 17, 1008
  9. 1990: Temporal and spatial variability of SSTs in the tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Archives for Meteorology, Geophysics and Bioclimatology, Series A, 42, 1-17 (S.E. Nicholson and B.S. Nyenzi).
  10. California and ENSO1989: The relationship between California rainfall and ENSO events. Journal of Climate, 2, 1258-1269 (T. Schonher and S. E. Nicholson).
  11. 1988: Reply to L. Druyan, Comments on "Rainfall Variability in Equatorial and Southern Africa: Relationships with SSTs Along the Southwestern Coast of Africa." Journal of Climate, 1, 570 (S.E. Nicholson and D. Entekhabi).
  12. SST vs Temp, S Africa1987: Rainfall variability in Equatorial and Southern Africa: relationships with sea-surface temperatures along the southwestern coast of Africa, Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology, 26, 561-578 (S.E. Nicholson and D. Entekhabi).
  13. Quasi-Periodic Behavior1986: The Quasi-Periodic Behavior of Rainfall Variability in Africa and its Relationship to the Southern Oscillation (with D. Entekhabi). Archives for Meteorology, Geophysics, and Bioclimatology, 34, 311-348.