African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses - UK (AMMA-UK).

近几十年来，撒哈拉以南非洲经历了可衡量的气候变化，对当地水资源、农业和健康产生了严重影响。然而，我们的预测方法对这一地区是不可靠的，由于缺乏观测和控制西非季风（WAM）的过程的了解不足。作为国际AMMA方案的一部分，联合王国将作出重大努力，涉及8个机构和30多名科学家，以测量决定当地气候及其全球影响的物理和化学过程。AMMA-UK将在几内亚海岸的热带森林和撒哈拉沙漠之间安装一系列地面站，以监测两年的气候。在植被冠层内，将对决定疾病传播的环境量进行测量，这些量将与从卫星观测得出的大尺度天气和气候有关。2006年夏季，将利用飞机和气球进行密集测量，分析大气层的状态和构成。将综合使用整套测量数据，确定土壤湿度和植被的格局与天气系统和大气成分的相互作用。一个协调的建模计划将描述WAM在全球气候中的作用，提高我们对干旱的理解，并有助于改进预测。

Subsaharan Africa has experienced measurable climate change over recent decades, with severe effects on local water resources, agriculture and health. However, our predictive methods for this region are unreliable, due to a lack of observations and a poor understanding of the processes controlling the West African Monsoon (WAM). As part of the international AMMA programme the UK will undertake a substantial effort, involving 8 institutions and more than 30 scientists, to measure the physical and chemical processes which determine the local climate and its global impacts. AMMA-UK will install an array of ground-based stations, between the tropical forest of the Guinea coast and the Sahara desert, to monitor climate over a two-year period. Within the vegetation canopy, measurements will be made of the environmental quantities which determine disease propagation and these will be related to the larger-scale weather and climate as derived from satellite observations. In the summer of 2006, an intensive campaign of aircraft and balloon-borne measurements will be used to analyse the atmospheric state and composition. Using a synthesis of the full set of measurements, the interaction of patterns of soil moisture and vegetation with weather systems and atmospheric composition will be determined. A co-ordinated programme of modelling will describe the role of the WAM in the global climate, improve our understanding of droughts and contribute to improved forecasts.