0000000001248336
AUTHOR
Remi Meynadier
Assessment of water budgets from NWP model analyses and reanalyses over West Africa
International audience; Water budgets from ECMWF reanalysis ERA-Interim and NCEP reanalysis I and II are inter-compared and compared to GPS precipitable water and to a 6-yr so-called "hybrid" budget dataset composed of ALMIP (AMMA Land surface Model Intercomparison Project) offline simulations forced with TRMM precipitation data. Deficiencies are evidenced in the reanalyses which are the most pronounced over the Sahel. Results from operational models (ECMWF-IFS, NCEP-GFS, and ARPEGE-Tropiques) and the special ECMWF AMMA reanalysis confirm and help understand these findings. A bias (~1-2 mm day-1) in precipitation and evapotranspiration leads to an unrealistic view of West Africa as a moistu…
West African Monsoon water cycle: 1. A hybrid water budget data set
International audience; This study investigates the West African Monsoon water cycle with the help of a new hybrid water budget data set developed within the framework of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses. Surface water and energy fluxes are estimated from an ensemble of land surface model simulations forced with elaborate precipitation and radiation products derived from satellite observations, while precipitable water tendencies are estimated from numerical weather prediction analyses. Vertically integrated atmospheric moisture flux convergence is estimated as a residual. This approach provides an advanced, comprehensive atmospheric water budget, including evapotranspiration,…
Investigation of the West African Monsoon water cycle from Numerical Weather Prediction models and elaborate products.
This study investigates the atmospheric water cycle over West Africa at seasonal and intra-seasonal timescales during AMMA Extended Observing Period (2005 to 2007). It aims at characterizing the scales of variability and inter-relations of atmospheric water budget terms and the underlying processes. The regional-scale moisture budget is examined using Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models and elaborate products. The latter are: TRMM 3B42v6 satellite precipitation estimates and evapo-transpiration estimates produced by land surface models (ALMIP project). These products allow for a comprehensive description of the water budget. NWP models provide also their own complete description of th…
West African Monsoon Water Cycle : Assessment of numerical weather prediction water budgets
This study investigates the atmospheric water cycle over West Africa at seasonal and intraseasonal timescales during AMMA Extended Observing Period (2005 to 2007). It aims at characterizing the scales of variability and inter-relations of atmospheric water budget terms and the underlying processes. The regional-scale moisture budget is examined using Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models and elaborate products. The latter are: TRMM 3B42v6 satellite precipitation estimates and evapo-transpiration estimates produced by land surface models (ALMIP project). These products allow for a comprehensive description of the water budget. NWP models provide also their own complete description of the…