Summary
Precipitable water vapor was calculated for Nigeria using a combination of surface and upper air data and mean monthly maps have been drawn. Annual maps of precipitable water vapor and precipitation efficiency have also been included.
The result shows that the distribution of precipitable water vapor and precipitation efficiency decreases from the coast to the inland in a zonal pattern. The major factor controlling the distribution is the seasonal movement of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITC) in conjunction with the movement of the sun. It is also shown that the lack of precipitation, particularly during the dry season, is not caused by a lack of atmospheric moisture over the country, but by the absence of mechanisms for the release of the moisture.
Zusammenfassung
Der Gesamtwasserdampfgehalt einer Luftsäule wurde für Nigeria auf Grund von Bodenbeobachtungen und Werten aus höheren Luftschichten berechnet; daraus wurden mittlere Monatskarten entworfen. Außerdem wurden Jahreskarten des Gesamtwasserdampfgehalts und des Niederschlagsnutzeffektes beigefügt.
Das Resultat läßt erkennen, daß diese beiden Größen von der Küste landeinwärts in zonaler Anordnung abnehmen; dabei wird der wirksamste Faktor von der jahreszeitlichen Verschiebung der Intertropischen Konvergenzzone (ITC) in Zusammenhang mit dem Jahresgang des Sonnenstandes gebildet. Ferner wird gezeigt, daß die Abnahme des Niederschlags, speziell während der Trockenzeit, nicht durch Mangel an atmosphärischer Feuchtigkeit, sondern durch das Fehlen der Mechanismen für die Auslösung der Feuchtigkeit verursacht ist.
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The writer is grateful to Dr.W. H. Terjung of the Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, for his advice and encouragement.
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Ojo, O. The distribution of mean monthly precipitable water vapor and annual precipitation efficiency in Nigeria. Arch. Met. Geoph. Biokl. B. 18, 221–238 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02242877
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02242877