US-West Africa Workshop: Validation of TRMM Rainfall Data over West Africa, Tallahassee, Florida, February 2000

9911918该奖项支持4名非洲参与者参加2000年2月在佛罗里达州塔拉哈西举行的关于验证西非TRMM降雨数据的美国-西非讲习班。其他与会者包括7名来自美国的气象学家和6名来自西非的气象学家。（美国国家航空航天局（National Air and Space Administration）和佛罗里达州立大学（Florida State University）正在为新增的非洲参与者提供支持。）联合组织者是佛罗里达州立大学气象系的Sharon Nicholson教授和尼日尔非洲气象应用促进发展中心气候数据库的Bonaventure Some先生。讲习班将包括来自科特迪瓦、加纳、贝宁、多哥、马里、塞内加尔、布基纳法索、几内亚、冈比亚和尼日尔的气象学家。非洲在年际和年代际时间尺度上经历了剧烈的降水波动。严重干旱很常见，非洲四分之三的地区处于干旱或半干旱状态。降水监测在整个非洲非常重要，因为非洲许多人民仍然从事农业活动。但对许多地区来说，降水数据要么不可用，要么太不可靠，无法用于监测。长期监测非洲环境的关键在于发展降雨评估的卫星方法。TRMM卫星的测量可以提供良好的空间覆盖，但卫星校准中使用的算法获得的结果需要通过地面测量进行验证。该讲习班的主要目的是促进测量数据的获取和质量控制，并使西非国家参与验证过程。非洲与会者将带来他们1998年每月降水的现场站数据。参与者将在验证过程中使用这些数据，以确定TRMM值与网格化、质量控制的台站数据的比较。此外，还将与其他卫星估计数进行相互比较，以验证这些数据。这种验证过程可以减少从某些国家购买数据的高昂费用，也可以最大限度地减少与使用这些数据有关的困难。还将计划为1999年取得类似的数据，并最终取得每日数据以证实五天的估计。非洲与会者还将熟悉从美国气象卫星收集的数据。这次讲习班的成果将增加目前对萨赫勒地区年际和年代际时间尺度气候变化的认识。该研讨会还将促进美国和非洲参与者之间的互动，这有望导致未来的合作研究活动。国际项目司和大气科学司共同支持这次讲习班。

9911918This award supports four African participants in the US-West Africa Workshop on Validation of TRMM Rainfall Data over West Africa, to be held in Tallahassee, Florida, February 2000. Additional participants include seven from the United States, and six other meteorologists from West Africa. (The National Air and Space Administration and Florida State University are providing support for the additional African participants.) The co-organizers are Professor Sharon Nicholson, of the Department of Meteorology at Florida State University and Mr. Bonaventure Some, with the Climatological Data Bank at the African Center of Meteorological Applications for Development, in Niger. The workshop will include meteorologists from the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gambia, and Niger. Africa has experienced dramatic fluctuations of precipitation on interannual and interdecadal time scales. Severe droughts are common, and three-quarters of Africa is arid or semi-arid. Precipitation monitoring is of great importance throughout Africa since many of its peoples are still engaged in agricultural pursuits. But for many areas, precipitation data is either unavailable or too unreliable to be used for monitoring. The key to long-term monitoring of Africa's environment lies in the development of satellite methods for rainfall assessment. Measurements from the TRMM satellite can provide good spatial coverage, but the results obtained from the algorithms used in satellite calibration need to be validated by ground measurements. The main purposes of this workshop are to facilitate the acquisition and quality control of gauge data, and to involve West African countries in the validation process. The African participants will bring their in-situ station data on monthly precipitation for 1998. The participants will use these data in the validation process to determine how TRMM values compare with their gridded, quality-controlled station data. Additionally, intercomparisons will be made with other satellite estimates in order to validate those data as well. This validation process can reduce the high cost of purchasing data from some countries, and also minimize difficulties related to the use of such data. Plans will also be made for the acquisition of similar data for 1999, and for the eventual acquisition of daily data to validate five-day estimates. The African participants will also become acquainted with data collected from American meteorological satellites. The results of this workshop should increase the current knowledge about climate variability of the Sahel region on interannual and interdecadal time scales. The workshop will also foster interactions among and between the US and African participants, which are expected to lead to future collaborative research activities. The Division of International Programs and the Division of Atmospheric Sciences are jointly supporting this workshop.