Novel Approach for Distinguishing North and South Tracks of African Easterly Waves: Impact on Understanding Tropical Cyclogenesis

African Easterly Waves (AEWs) are mixed barotropic-baroclinic instabilities that propagates north and south of the African Easterly Jet (AEJ) in the boreal summer. They constitute a key feature of the West African/North Atlantic region as they modulate precipitation, convective activity and are widely recognised as the main seeds for tropical cyclogenesis in the North Atlantic. However, interactions between AEWs occuring on both sides of the AEJ as well as there impact on cyclogenesis is still poorly understood. A novel filtering protocol is introduced to distinguish AEWs tracks north and south of the AEJ. It is applied to a 30-year ERA5 reanalysis dataset. This method effectively isolates north track activity even in the presence of dominant south track signal, facilitating identification and tracking of northward vortices. The structure of both wave tracks is examined through this new perspective and is contextualized within existing literature. Emphasis is placed on comprehending the interactions between north and south track vortices and their impact on tropical cyclogenesis in the Atlantic.