Open AccessUnderstanding African easterly waves: a moist singular vector approach
Author(s) -
Cornforth Rosalind J.,
Hoskins Brian J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
atmospheric science letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 45
ISSN - 1530-261X
DOI - 10.1002/asl.231
Subject(s) - tropical wave , african easterly jet , tropical cyclone , climatology , moisture , environmental science , meteorology , latent heat , storm , heat wave , atmospheric sciences , geology , climate change , geography , oceanography
Moist singular vectors (MSV) have been applied successfully to predicting mid‐latitude storms growing in association with latent heat of condensation. Tropical cyclone sensitivity has also been assessed. Extending this approach to more general tropical weather systems here, MSVs are evaluated for understanding and predicting African easterly waves, given the importance of moist processes in their development. First results, without initial moisture perturbations, suggest MSVs may be used advantageously. Perturbations bear similar structural and energy profiles to previous idealised non‐linear studies and observations. Strong sensitivities prevail in the metrics and trajectories chosen, and benefits of initial moisture perturbations should be appraised. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society