SPATIAL STRUCTURES OF RAINFALL VARIABILITY IN AFRICA - A CLIMATIC TRANSITION AT THE END OF THE 1960S

Authors
BIGOT S CAMBERLIN P MORON V RICHARD Y
Citation
S. Bigot et al., SPATIAL STRUCTURES OF RAINFALL VARIABILITY IN AFRICA - A CLIMATIC TRANSITION AT THE END OF THE 1960S, Comptes rendus de l'Academie des sciences. Serie II. Sciences de la terre et des planetes, 324(3), 1997, pp. 181-188
Citations number
17
Categorie Soggetti
Geosciences, Interdisciplinary
Journal title
Comptes rendus de l'Academie des sciences. Serie II. Sciences de la terre et des planetes → ACNP
ISSN journal
12518050
Volume
324
Issue
3
Year of publication
1997
Pages
181 - 188
Database
ISI
SICI code
1251-8050(1997)324:3<181:SSORVI>2.0.ZU;2-D
Abstract
The use of a 466-station network enables study of the space-time patte rns of interannual rainfall variability in Africa south of the Sahara for the period 1951-1988. Five major coherent rainfall areas are delin eated through principal component analysis. The Sudano-Sahelian belt, though the most coherent area for 1951-1988, is not clearly pictured w hen the analysis is repeated on the 1951-1967 and 1968-1988 sub-period s. The individualization of this region is mostly related to an abrupt change towards a drier climate, at the end of the 1960s. It coincides with a decadal-scale change in global sea-surface temperatures, espec ially in the Atlantic basin.