Abstract
The simulation of the onset of the West African monsoon (WAM), associated with the northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) occurring in May, June, and July, is a challenging task for atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs), because of complex water and energy balance through the land-atmosphere interaction as well as atmospheric processes. We provide evidence that a combination of state-of-the-art global fields of reanalyzed soil moisture anomalies and a sufficiently high-resolution (~50 km) AGCM produces a successful simulation of the northward shift of the ITCZ and the following onset of the WAM in July.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 103-107 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Atmospheric Science Letters |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 Apr 1 |
Keywords
- AGCM
- African Easterly Jet
- Soil moisture
- West African monsoon
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atmospheric Science
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Yamada, T. J., Kanae, S., Oki, T., & Hirabayashi, Y. (2012). The onset of the West African monsoon simulated in a high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model with reanalyzed soil moisture fields. Atmospheric Science Letters, 13(2), 103-107. https://doi.org/10.1002/asl.367