Monday, 21 January 2008: 9:45 AM
The relationship between temperature and precipitation in the Sahel as a diagnostic of land-atmosphere feedbacks of relevance to climate change
217-218 (Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)
Temperature and precipitation in the African Sahel are negatively correlated - seasonal warming accompanied late 20th century drying.
The land surface-atmosphere interaction mechanisms responsible for this relationship are diagnosed in simulations with two models forced with the historical record of sea surface temperature over 1950-1999. The feedback between precipitation, evaporation and temperature in the Sahel is clear and positive in one model, which in this set-up adequately captures the observed variability. In the other model, which does not capture the observed variability as coherently, it is unclear, possibly because negative.
Consequences for our understanding of the divergence of future projections of regional climate change are discussed.
Supplementary URL: