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Surface humidity and precipitable water vapour linkage over west and central Africa: Further clarification and evaluation of existing models
Author(s) -
Adedokun J. A.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.3370090408
Subject(s) - precipitable water , dew point , relative humidity , environmental science , humidity , climatology , meteorology , atmosphere (unit) , water vapor , wet season , atmospheric sciences , geography , geology , cartography
In the light of currently available upper air data for West Africa, an intensive examination is carried out on the linkage between surface humidity and precipitable water vapour, W , over the region, with a view to validating existing empirical models as well as identifying seasonal variability in their applicability. For this objective, calculations of precipitable water vapour using available monthly mean upper air data from 13 stations in West and Central Africa (for the period 1971–1984) have been carried out and a comparison made with results from empirical models using the Kolmogorov‐Smirnov test. While overall fair agreement was obtained between actual and estimated values of W , using the power law relationship of Adedokun, it was found that the model performed better during the rainy season than during the Harmattan. Ojo's In W‐t d ( t d , dew‐point temperature) linear model, however, performs better during the Harmattan than the rainy season. The location of the Inter Tropical Discontinuity (ITD) relative to the various stations and ocean‐atmosphere interaction effects pose as controls to the regime of application of these surface humidity based models. An update of the regression base period used may be necessary for better performance.