Open AccessInteraction of interannual and diurnal variations over equatorial Africa
Author(s) -
Misra Vasubandhu
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2009jd012512
Subject(s) - climatology , diurnal cycle , el niño southern oscillation , environmental science , atmosphere (unit) , seasonality , diurnal temperature variation , dry season , atmospheric sciences , geography , geology , meteorology , biology , ecology , cartography
This paper shows evidence of interannual variation of the local diurnal variability over equatorial Africa. The dry season of December–February over the equatorial African region of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) typically experiences wetter (drier) than normal seasonal anomalies during warm (cold) El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. This study finds that from the additive influence or phase locking of the seasonal cycle, the interannual signal from ENSO, and the local diurnal cycle, there is a tendency for local amplification of the remote ENSO signal over this region of equatorial Africa. This additive influence of the three temporal scales over the equatorial African region is established from the analysis of a multidecadal coupled ocean‐atmosphere model integration that simulates the observed seasonal cycle and its interannual variations over equatorial Africa reasonably well.