Northeastern Tropical Atlantic SST and Sahel Rainfall Variability

Résumé fourni par la source

The SST variability during the summer period in the northeastern tropical Atlantic region (NTA) is characterized by an alternation of warming/cooling which represents 87% of the total variability. The aim of this paper is to study the atmospheric responses as well as the precipitation associated with these oceanic conditions. Based on Reynolds’s SST from 1982 to 2019, a normalized Northern Tropical Atlantic index (NTAI) is computed into the region between 15° - 25°W; 12° - 16°N and a composite analysis is then performed. It is shown that the NTAI is significantly correlated with the SST’s first principal component mode (PC1) in this region. Moreover, the composite of SST anomalies and atmospheric parameters exhibits a strong local ocean-atmosphere interaction which highly impacts the large-scale atmospheric circulation in West Africa, particularly in the western Sahel. An in-depth analysis shows that the atmospheric response to the warm (cold) SST is a cyclonic (anticyclonic) circulation in the lower layers near the West Africa Coast. This cyclonic (anticyclonic) circulation strengthens/reduces the moisture transport towards the continent in the low levels. In the middle layers of the atmosphere (500 hPa), the warm (cold) composite is associated with a decrease (increase) in the intensity of the African Easterly Jet (AEJ) whereas, in the upper atmosphere (200 hPa), the strengthening (weakening) of the Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) is observed. With regard to the composite precipitation field, a positive/negative SST anomaly is associated with significantly enhanced/reduced rainfall in the western Sahelian region. It is found that this relationship (correlation) increases as we are closer to the coasts.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.