The Role of the Distribution of SST and Vegetation in Rainfall Variability Over West Africa

Am-9807068 Eltahir，麻省理工学院标题：海温和植被的分布在西非降雨量变化中的作用342,383美元/36个月的请求是为了检验这样一个假设，即西非的降雨量变化是由边界层条件的经向梯度(熵或湿静态能量)调节的。我们将研究陆地植被分布和热带大西洋海温变化对边界层经向梯度的影响。这项研究将同时利用历史数据和数值模型。这项研究很重要，因为了解西非的季风变化将有助于更好地预测干旱和洪水；所有这些都具有很高的潜在社会影响。

Abstract ATM-9807068 Eltahir, Elfatih Massachusetts Institute of Technology Title: The Role of the Distribution of SST and Vegetation in Rainfall Variability Over West Africa The request of $342,383/36 months is to examine the hypothesis that the rainfall variability over West Africa is regulated by the meridional gradient of boundary layer conditions (entropy or moist static energy). The influence of both vegetation distribution over land and SST variation over the tropical Atlantic ocean on the meridional gradient of the boundary layer will be examined. Both historical data and numerical models will be utilized for the study. The study is important since understanding monsoon variability over west Africa will help better predict droughts, floods; all this has high potential societal impacts.