0000000000297140
AUTHOR
Wilson Gitau
Oceanic and atmospheric linkages with short rainfall season intraseasonal statistics over Equatorial Eastern Africa and their predictive potential
Despite earlier studies over various parts of the world including equatorial Eastern Africa (EEA) showing that intraseasonal statistics of wet and dry spells have spatially coherent signals and thus greater predictability potential, no attempts have been made to identify the predictors for these intraseasonal statistics. This study therefore attempts to identify the predictors (with a 1-month lead time) for some of the subregional intraseasonal statistics of wet and dry spells (SRISS) which showed the greatest predictability potential during the short rainfall season over EEA. Correlation analysis between the SRISS and seasonal rainfall totals on one hand and the predefined predictors on th…
Évolution récente des précipitations de mars-mai en Afrique de l'est : configurations spatiales et évolution subsaisonnière.
6 pages; International audience; S'appuyant sur des données stationnelles de précipitations sur la période 1961-2012, l'objectif de cette étude est 1/ deconfirmer la baisse des pluies au cours des Long Rains sur la décennie 2000 détectée par Lyon et DeWitt (2012) à partir dedonnées en points de grille ; 2/ comprendre sa déclinaison à l'échelle intraannuelle sur la base des scénarios pluviométriquessubsaisonniers développés par Moron et al. (2013) ; et 3/ évaluer son impact sur les écoagrosystèmes. Cette baisse se confirmedans les données stationnelles, mais de façon moins marquée que dans les données grillées. Elle affecte plus fortement les stationsles plus sèches et le mois d'avril, pic c…
Diagnosis and predictability of intraseasonal characteristics of wet and dry spells over equatorial east Africa
Most of Eastern Africa has arid and semi-arid climate with high space-time variability in rainfall. The droughts are very common in this region, and often persist for several years, preceded or followed by extreme floods. Most of the livelihoods and socio-economic activities however remain rain-dependent leading to severe negative impacts during the periods of occurrence of climate extremes. It has been noted that one extreme event was capable of reversing national economic growth made over a period of several years. Thus no sustainable development can be attained in eastern Africa without effective mainstreaming of climate information in the development policies, plans and programmes. Many…
Spatial coherence and potential predictability assessment of intraseasonal statistics of wet and dry spells over Equatorial Eastern Africa
The aim of this study was to derive components of the intraseasonal rainfall variations from the daily rainfall in the Equatorial Eastern Africa region and assess their spatial coherence, a pointer to their potential predictability. Daily rainfall observations from 36 stations distributed over Equatorial Eastern Africa and extending from 1962 to 2000 were used. The March to May and October to December periods commonly referred to as the long and short rainfall seasons respectively were considered. Seasonal and intraseasonal statistics at the local (station) level were first defined. The stations were also grouped into near-homogeneous (sub-regional) zones based on daily rainfall. Similarly,…
Climate change impact on SWAT simulated streamflow in western Kenya
Weather and climate extremes such as droughts and floods have far reaching impacts in Kenya. They have had implications in a variety of sectors including agriculture, water resources, health, energy, and disaster management among others. Lake Victoria and its catchment support millions of people and any impact on its ability to support the livelihoods of the communities in this region is of major concern. Thus, the main objective of this study was to assess the potential future climatic changes on the Nzoia catchment in the Lake Victoria basin, and how they might affect streamflow. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool was used to investigate the impact of climatic change on streamflow of the …