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The Tropical easterly Jet and Sudan rainfall: A review

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Summary

Recent work on Sahelian rainfall anomalies has concentrated on modelling of both ocean heat anomaly forcing of regional low-mid troposphere circulation and land surface forcing of precipitation processes. This paper, however, assesses the role of an upper troposphere synoptic feature of importance in modulating surface rainfall over Sudan in the eastern Sahel: the Tropical easterly Jet (TEJ). The TEJ provides an example of an inter-regional circulation feature linking the Sahelian and southeast Asian monsoons and ultimately, perhaps, forced by ENSO-related anomalies. Using the literature, intra-and inter-year variations in TEJ intensity, latitude and extent over northeast Africa are discussed and related to the lower tropospheric ITD and precipitation anomalies. The paper outlines ideas to be pursued in relating TEJ behaviour to surface rainfall, upper air windflow, and mid-troposphere water vapour (WV) as derived from METEOSAT data.

Zusammenfassung

Die neueren Arbeiten über die Niederschlagsanomalien im Sahel haben sich auf die Modellierung der ozeanischen Wärmeanomalien, hervorgerufen von der regionalen Zirkulation der unteren und mittleren Troposphäre, sowie der Niederschlagsentstehung durch Landoberflächenprozesse konzentriert. Dagegen wird in der vorliegenden Studie die Rolle eines wichtigen synoptischen Phänomens der oberen Troposphäre abgeschätzt, das den Niederschlag im Sudan und somit der östlichen Sahelzone beeinflußt: der tropische Ost-Strahlstrom (TEJ). Der TEJ liefert ein Beispiel für ein überregionales Zirkulationssystem, das mit dem Monsun im Sahel und in Südostasien in Zusammenhang steht und möglicherweise letztlich von ENSO-Anomalien gesteuert wird. Auf Grund der Literatur werden die intra- und interannuären Variationen der TEJ-Intensität, einschließlich seiner Breitenlage und Ausdehnung, im nordöstlichen Afrika diskutiert und zur niedertroposphärischen IT sowie zu Niederschlagsanomalien in Beziehung gesetzt. Der vorliegende Beitrag umreißt die Vorstellungen, die zu verfolgen sind, um das TEJ-Verhalten mit dem Niederschlag, der hochatmosphärischen Strömung sowie dem Wasserdampfgehalt der mittleren Troposphäre, bestimmt aus METEOSAT-Daten, zu verknüpfen.

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  1. Department of Geography, University of Salford, Salford, UK

    M. Hulme & N. Tosdevin

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  1. M. Hulme
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  2. N. Tosdevin
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Hulme, M., Tosdevin, N. The Tropical easterly Jet and Sudan rainfall: A review. Theor Appl Climatol 39, 179–187 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00867945

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