IRES: US-Senegal International Research Experiences for Graduate Students during the AMMA-Senegal 2006 Field Experiment

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This award will support U.S. students to engage in international research collaboration focused on understanding precipitation processes in and around Senegal, West Africa, and using numerical modeling to explore the relationship between precipitation and tropical monsoon formation in West Africa. In an average year approximately 90-100 weather fronts known as African Easterly Waves emerge from the coast of West Africa, with approximately ten of these developing into named storms over the Atlantic. A number of studies have shown that Atlantic hurricane activity is positively correlated to rainfall levels in the West Africa. During the summer of 2006, the students will participate, along with scientists and students from Africa, the U. S. and Europe, in a large international research project called AMMA (African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Activities). The team of Senegalese faculty and student collaborators will be led by Dr. Amadou Gaye at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. In the second and third years of this project, students will use AMMA data, analyzed observations and meso-scale models to gain greater insights into various atmospheric processes. Students will continue to collaborate with their Senegalese colleagues, and will expand those collaborations by visiting the African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development in Niamey, Niger, to work with scientists from across West Africa on modeling precipitation, monsoonal activities and related phenomena. The process of tropical monsoon formation is not only an important scientific question, but also a phenomenon with broad national and international economic implications. Since 1995 the number of named storms over the Atlantic Ocean has increased. These systems have posed a danger to U. S. coastal populations, with 2005 serving as a prime example. Over the last decade, major Atlantic hurricanes produced more than 1000 fatalities, $100 billion in damages, and displaced approximately two million U. S. citizens. This project will also enable U. S. students, especially those from underrepresented/underserved groups, to broaden their scientific experience with international collaborations on these important atmospheric processes. The project will help to develop long-term collaborations and provide students with an appreciation of cultural differences, as well as with the relationship between science and society in West Africa. This award is co-funded by NSF's Directorate for Geosciences.