The West African Monsoon (WAM) is a dynamical coupled system in which climate evolution is linked to ocean/land surface forcings and to changes in the atmospheric composition. The understanding and predictability of the WAM variability requires a detailed knowledge of feedbacks between the surface (land-ocean) and the atmosphere. Such variability of the WAM has raised important issues related to sustainability, land degradation, and food and water security in the region.
The African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) programme is an international, integrated multidisciplinary project dedicated to improving our knowledge and understanding of the WAM and its variability on daily to interannual and longer timescales, including climate change scenarios. The aim of AMMA is to address practical issues related to prediction of the WAM and applications in terms of societal need.
The second phase of AMMA is now on-going. This session will address new results on a multi-processes integrative view of the WAM and its feedback loops, on its water-energy cycle and its links with the continental and oceanic surfaces, on its predictability at different time scales and the forecast skills, and on the development and improvement of early warning systems.