IMK-TRO contributes to the AMMA project:
In the Sahel region of West Africa convective processes are the dominant sources of rainfall during the monsoon season. Under homogeneous regional- or synoptic-scale atmospheric conditions, the mesoscale differences of surface properties are key quantities for the development and diurnal life cycle of convection from shallow and deep convection up to large Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS). It is the objective of IMK-TRO to study by observation (in Dano/Burkina Faso from June to August 2006) and modelling (with the Local Model (LM) of the German Weather Service) the triggering, propagation and modification of the life cycle of convection in dependence of
(a) regional-scale meteorological conditions (temperature, water vapour distribution),
(b) surface fluxes resulting from differences in land-use and orography and
(c) the modification of soil moisture by pre- and post rainfall processes
at high temporal and spatial resolution to improve the understanding of convective systems in the AMMA region during the monsoon season.