Abstract
The climate of the Sahel is typically tropical with a monomodal precipitation pattern and rainfall occurring in a short summer season, i.e. during the long-day period. The rainy season follows the apparent course of the sun at the zenith; the rains are therefore sometimes called “zenithal rains”. The rains are provoked by the monsoon of the Gulf of Guinea and the northward movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) also called Intertropical Front (FIT, in French). The northward progress and southward retreat of the ITCZ roughly follow the apparent march of the sun at the zenith which is at the equator at the equinoxes, on the Tropic of Cancer at the June solstice and on the Tropic of Capricorn at the December solstice, (Figs. 6-7).
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Le Houérou, H.N. (1989). Environmental Characteristics. In: The Grazing Land Ecosystems of the African Sahel. Ecological Studies, vol 75. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74457-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74457-0_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-74459-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-74457-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive