Search results for "Clima"
showing 10 items of 6069 documents
Intraseasonal wind anomalies related to wet and dry spells during the ?long? and ?short? rainy seasons in Kenya
1997
The largest part of Kenya exhibits two major rainy seasons, the March–May «long rains» and the October–December «short rains», both related to the passage of the ITCZ, but differing in the amount of rainfall recorded and its interannual variability. In order to investigate whether these differences also apply at intraseasonal time-scales, daily rainfall data for the peak month of each rainy season (April and November) were collected for 7 consecutive years (1982–1988). The network comprises 68 stations, from which a classification of the spatial patterns of daily rainfall anomalies has been performed. Wind anomalies corresponding to the various rainfall types and to specific regional rainfa…
On the projected increase of Sahel rainfall during the late rainy season
2016
Thirteen CMIP5 models are used to analyse changes in climate over the West African monsoon region between the near future (2031–2070 under the RCP4.5 emission scenario), and a control period (1960–1999 under the historical emission scenario), with a focus on the late rainy season. The monsoon circulation is projected to strengthen and to shift northward leading to more rainfall during the Sahelian season. The results show an increase of the Rainfall amounts in September–October and a delay in the monsoon withdrawal. The increased moisture that fuels the rainfall anomalies is associated with an increase in moisture flux convergence and with local moisture recycling. The moisture transport do…
Impact of very low crop residues cover on wind erosion in the Sahel
2011
International audience; In the Sahel, with average annual precipitation in the order of 500 mm yr− 1, wind erosion occurs mainly on cultivated millet fields whose surfaces are only partially covered by crop residues. The impact of these residues on wind erosion was not clearly established. The objective of this study is thus to quantify the actual amount of crop residues in traditional Sahelian fields and to determine their impacts on wind erosion by reference to a bare surface throughout the seasonal cycle over several years. At the beginning of the year during dry season, Sahelian farmers use to "clean" their fields, i.e. cut and lay flat on the soil surface any millet stalks still standi…
Analysis of climatic data and forecast indices for human fascioliasis at very high altitude
1999
Human infection with Fasciola hepatica has recently been recognized as an important health problem worldwide, and particularly at very high altitudes in South America. The highest prevalences and intensities of human fascioliasis known are those of the northern Bolivian Altiplano, where infected Lymnaea truncatula occur at altitudes of 3800-4100 m. In the present study, the climatic data for this area of the Altiplano, which differ markedly from those of endemic areas in the lowlands, were analysed. There is no marked seasonality in temperature but there are large variations in temperature within a daily, 24-h period. Rainfall is seasonal, with a long dry season, coinciding with the lowest …
Climate/growth relationships of Brachystegia spiciformis from the miombo woodland in south central Africa
2010
Abstract We present five Brachystegia spiciformis Benth. (BrSp) tree-ring chronologies from the seasonally dry miombo woodland in south central Africa. Between 9 and 34 stem discs were collected from three dry and two wet miombo sites. All samples showed distinct growth rings, which were marked by terminal parenchyma bands. Site chronologies varied in length between 43 and 149 years. An increase in the number of growth ring anomalies in older trees, however, resulted in an increase in dating error and a decrease in between-tree correlations with increase in the chronology length. Annual precipitation variability accounted for some 28% of the common variance in the BrSp chronologies and we f…
Seasonal changes of the infiltration rates in a Mediterranean scrubland on limestone
1997
To investigate the seasonal changes of infiltration rates, measurements by means of simulated rainfall experiments and cylinder infiltrometer were done in a small E–W oriented watershed in Southeast Spain. Data were collected during both the wet seasons (autumn, winter and spring) and the dry season (summer). Infiltration rates were very high in summer, when direct surface runoff is very low. During the wet seasons, the infiltration rates were lower due to the increase in soil moisture. Measurements by means of both ponding as well as simulated rainfall are suitable to study the infiltration process. The former needs more replications, due to the small observation area encompassed for each …
Extreme dry spell detection and climatology over the Mediterranean Basin during the wet season
2016
The E-OBS precipitation gridded data set v.10.0 is used to detect very long dry spell (VLDS) events over the entire Mediterranean Basin for the 1957–2013 period, during the wet season (September to April). The main objective is to characterize these events as climatic objects, in terms of location, spatial extent, duration, and temporal variability. In this study, 76 VLDS events were detected in the Mediterranean Basin and grouped into four spatial patterns: scattered localized (with 25 events), northeast Mediterranean (11 events), West Mediterranean (15 events), and southeast Mediterranean (25 events). Each pattern shows seasonality in events. Most of the scattered localized, northeast, an…
Climate Adjustments over Africa Accompanying the Indian Monsoon Onset
2010
Abstract Rainfall and circulation changes accompanying the Indian monsoon onset are examined, focusing on the African continent and neighboring areas. The Indian Meteorological Department official monsoon onset dates over Kerala (MOK; on average on 1 June) are used. Composites are formed at a pentad (5 days) time scale to compare pre- and postonset conditions. Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) data for 1979–2007 indicate that a substantial rainfall decrease over several parts of Africa is associated with MOK. Significant rainfall anomalies, after removal of the mean seasonal cycle, are found in eastern Africa and the nearby western Indian Ocean. Indian …
Cross-hemispheric transport of central African biomass burning pollutants: implications for downwind ozone production
2010
Pollutant plumes with enhanced concentrations of trace gases and aerosols were observed over the southern coast of West Africa during August 2006 as part of the AMMA wet season field campaign. Plumes were observed both in the mid and upper troposphere. In this study we examined the origin of these pollutant plumes, and their potential to photochemically produce ozone (O<sub>3</sub>) downwind over the Atlantic Ocean. Their possible contribution to the Atlantic O<sub>3</sub> maximum is also discussed. Runs using the BOLAM mesoscale model including biomass burning carbon monoxide (CO) tracers were used to confirm an origin from central African biomass burning fires. The…
Droughts Over Amazonia in 2005, 2010, and 2015: A Cloud Cover Perspective
2018
Amazon forests experienced recent severe droughts in an anomalous short period induced by different mechanisms and had different length periods and spatial patterns. Droughts of 2005 and 2010 were attributed to anomalous Sea Surface Temperature (SST) over the Tropical North Atlantic (TNA) during the dry season, but the 2010 drought was more severe and remained for a longer period because it was also induced in late 2009 by a moderate to strong El Niño (EN). Drought in 2015 led to unprecedented warming and extreme soil moisture deficits over some regions, and it was attributed to a very strong EN. Several studies analyzed these drought events regarding different climatic factors such as anom…