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Seasonal influence of the sea surface temperature on the low atmospheric circulation and precipitation in the eastern equatorial Atlantic

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Abstract

The air–sea interaction in the Gulf of Guinea and its role in setting precipitation at the Guinean coast is investigated in the present paper. This study is based on satellite observations and WRF simulations forced by different sea surface temperature (SST) patterns. It shows that the seasonal cold tongue setup in the Gulf of Guinea, along with its very active northern front, tends to strongly constrain the low level atmospheric dynamics between the equator and the Guinean coast. Underlying mechanisms including local SST effect on the marine boundary layer stability and hydrostatically-changed meridional pressure gradient through changes in SST gradient are quantified in WRF regarding observations and CFSR reanalyses. Theses mechanisms strongly impact moisture flux convergence near the coast, leading to the installation of the first rainy season of the West African Monsoon (WAM) system. The current study details the mechanisms by which the Atlantic Equatorial cold tongue plays a major role in the pre-onset of the boreal WAM.

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Acknowledgments

The research leading to these results received funding from the EU FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement no. 603521, project PREFACE. TMI data are produced by Remote Sensing Systems and sponsored by the NASA Earth Sciences Program. Data are available at www.remss.com. QuikScat data are sponsored by the NASA Ocean Vector Winds Science Team. The authors wish to thank the reviewers for their constructive remarks. This work benefited from the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace’s server and data storage (Ciclad).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LA, Toulouse, France

    Rémi Meynadier

  2. LATMOS-IPSL, Paris, France

    Gaëlle de Coëtlogon

  3. LGGE, Grenoble, France

    Marion Leduc-Leballeur

  4. LOCEAN-IPSL, Paris, France

    Laurence Eymard & Serge Janicot

Authors
  1. Rémi Meynadier
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  2. Gaëlle de Coëtlogon
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  3. Marion Leduc-Leballeur
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  4. Laurence Eymard
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  5. Serge Janicot
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Correspondence to Rémi Meynadier.

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Meynadier, R., de Coëtlogon, G., Leduc-Leballeur, M. et al. Seasonal influence of the sea surface temperature on the low atmospheric circulation and precipitation in the eastern equatorial Atlantic. Clim Dyn 47, 1127–1142 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2892-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2892-7

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