4.7 Article

Recent rainfall conditions in the Congo Basin

期刊

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
卷 17, 期 5, 页码 -

出版社

IOP Publishing Ltd
DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac61c4

关键词

Congo Basin; drought; rainfall variability; Congo rainfall

资金

  1. National Science Foundation [GEO/ATM 1854511]

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This article examines the rainfall conditions in the Congo Basin between 1979 and 2014, and compares it with the subsequent years of 2016-2020. It is shown that while there was a drying trend in the earlier period, the later years experienced a wetter period. The meteorological factors responsible for the wetter conditions in the later years were different from those in the earlier wet period, with an increase in convective available potential energy and total column water vapor being the major factors.
In the Congo Basin, a drying trend in the April-May-June rains prevailed between 1979 and 2014, accompanied by a decline in forest productivity. This article examines the subsequent years, in order to determine whether rainfall conditions have improved and to examine meteorological factors governing conditions in those years. It is shown that a wetter period, comparable to that of 1979-1993, spanned the years 2016-2020. However, the meteorological factors responsible for the wetter conditions appear to be significantly different from those related to the earlier wet period. The wetter conditions of 1979-1993 were associated with changes in the tropical Walker circulation, in moisture flux and flux divergence, and in Pacific sea-surface temperatures (SST), namely a warmer central and eastern Pacific and a cooler western Pacific, compared to the dry phase in 2000-2014. This resulted in a lower-than-average trans-Pacific SST gradient. In contrast, SSTs were almost ubiquitously higher in the 2016-2020 period than in either prior period. However, there was some reduction in the trans-Pacific gradient. The Walker circulation and moisture flux/flux divergence were not factors in this episode. The major factors provoking the return to wetter years appear to be an increase in convective available potential energy and in total column water vapor. This could be related to the general warming of the oceans and land.

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