The Seasonal Evolution of the Atmospheric Circulation over West Africa and Equatorial Africa

Abstract

This paper examines the mean annual cycle of rainfall and general circulation features over West Africa and central Africa for 1958-97. Rainfall is examined using a 1400-station archive compiled by the first author. Other circulation features are examined using the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis dataset. Important features of the reanalysis zonal wind field are shown to compare well with the seasonal evolution described by the radiosonde observations.