P. de Felice

Comparison of the African and the 6-9 day wave-like disturbance patterns over West-Africa and the tropical Atlantic during summer 1985

SummaryUsing the ECMWF and NMC analyses, this study documents the composite structures of the African and of the 6–9 day waves. In spite of the fact that the two types of disturbances develop over almost the same area, i.e. Central and West Africa and the tropical Atlantic, during the same season, i.e. summer, in spite of the fact that they have almost the same East-West velocity, i.e. 7–8 degree longitude per day, the structures of the two waves are very different.At 12.5°N, the African wave has an amplitude maximum in the meridional wind component whilst the zonal wind component is almost unperturbed. On the contrary, in the 6–9 day wave, at 12.5°N and also at 12.5°S, the zonal wind component has an amplitude maximum whilst the meridional wind component is very small and there is an amplitude maximum for the meridional wind component at the equator and 20°N.

Rainfall and the 6–9 day wave-like disturbance in West-Africa during summer 1989

SummaryUsing ECMWF analyses and daily rain amounts of 569 stations in Western Africa for summer 1989, the study documents the composite structure of the 6–9 day oscillation and its influence on rain. Rain is modulated by vorticity as displayed in the wave composite. There are rainfall maxima coincident with cyclonic vorticity and rainfall minima coincident with anticyclonic vorticity at the 700hPa level, at 17.5°N and 7.5°N.

Influence of the 6-9 day wave disturbances on temperature, vorticity and cloud cover over the tropical Atlantic during summer 1985

SummaryUsing ECMWF and NCEP/NCAR analysis and reanalysis data sets, 6–9 day wave-like oscillations have been described in the African and tropical Atlantic troposphere during the summers of 1981 and 1985. In spite of several kinematic analogies, their structure was quite different from the African waves. In this paper we study the connection between the 6–9 day oscillations and the cloud cover with help of the ISCCP-Cl data set. The largest cloud cover oscillation (±30%) occurs in the 800–680 hPa layer, a maximum (minimum) is connected with a cyclonic (anticyclonic) circulation. The influence of the 6–9 day oscillation on horizontal water vapor flux and temperature is also displayed.

Wavelet transform technique to study the behavior of the 10–20-day and 25–50-day modes during indian summer monsoon onset

SummaryWavelet transform (WT) has been employed to study the behavior of the 10–20-day and 25–50-day modes during Indian monsoon onset. Daily time-series of the zonal and meridional components of surface wind over off the Somali coast and onset dates over south Kerala during 23 years (1954–1976) have been used. In 63% of cases the results of this analysis indicate a link between summer monsoon onset and the 10–20-day and 25–50-day bands expressed by the simultaneously occurrence of fluctuations in these two bands. This suggests the presence of undulatory behavior within the Somali jet whose periods are situated in the 10–20-day and 25–50-day bands during summer monsoon onset.

A fast moving easterly wave of the west Africa troposphere

SummaryThis paper documents a tropospheric synoptic-scale wavelike disturbance over Northern Africa and the tropical Atlantic during summer, in the 3.–5.day band period, different from the African wave. It has a velocity of 10–12 degree longitude per day instead of 6–8, a slighter shorter period, i.e. 3.5 instead of 4.5 days. It is best seen between 5°–7° N whilst the African wave has its largest amplitude about 12° N. The data used are NCEP/NCAR reanalyses and radiosonde data.

North-eastward propagating 25-50-day mode and its link with Indian summer monsoon activity

SummarySpatio-temporal characteristics of the 25–50-day oscillations are investigated using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition and spectral analysis with the Maximum Entropy Method (MEM). Daily pressure values over India during 1978 are used in this study. Power spectra of the temporal coefficients of the two leading EOFs show the existence of a low frequency oscillation with a period range 25–50-day over all India. An analysis using extended empirical orthogonal function (EEOF) indicates North-Eastward propagating 25–50-day mode. The analysis EOF has allowed to establish a relationship between the 25–50-day oscillation and the activity of the summer monsoon. The North-Eastward propagation of this mode is also confirmed by the simple EOF analysis.

Janus: An aircraft prototype of a low earth orbit split beam stereoscopic observing system

Abstract The principle of determination of wind fields by a tomographic method is described. The airborne stereoscopic radiometer JANUS has been built to assess the feasibility of such measurements. Results of preliminary flights over isolated cumulus compare favourably with direct measurements. New flights with improved auxiliary parameter determinations are ongoing.