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Catherine A. Senior
,
John H. Marsham
,
Ségolène Berthou
,
Laura E. Burgin
,
Sonja S. Folwell
,
Elizabeth J. Kendon
,
Cornelia M. Klein
,
Richard G. Jones
,
Neha Mittal
,
David P. Rowell
,
Lorenzo Tomassini
,
Théo Vischel
,
Bernd Becker
,
Cathryn E. Birch
,
Julia Crook
,
Andrew J. Dougill
,
Declan L. Finney
,
Richard J. Graham
,
Neil C. G. Hart
,
Christopher D. Jack
,
Lawrence S. Jackson
,
Rachel James
,
Bettina Koelle
,
Herbert Misiani
,
Brenda Mwalukanga
,
Douglas J. Parker
,
Rachel A. Stratton
,
Christopher M. Taylor
,
Simon O. Tucker
,
Caroline M. Wainwright
,
Richard Washington
, and
Martin R. Willet

Abstract

Pan-Africa convection-permitting regional climate model simulations have been performed to study the impact of high resolution and the explicit representation of atmospheric moist convection on the present and future climate of Africa. These unique simulations have allowed European and African climate scientists to understand the critical role that the representation of convection plays in the ability of a contemporary climate model to capture climate and climate change, including many impact-relevant aspects such as rainfall variability and extremes. There are significant improvements in not only the small-scale characteristics of rainfall such as its intensity and diurnal cycle, but also in the large-scale circulation. Similarly, effects of explicit convection affect not only projected changes in rainfall extremes, dry spells, and high winds, but also continental-scale circulation and regional rainfall accumulations. The physics underlying such differences are in many cases expected to be relevant to all models that use parameterized convection. In some cases physical understanding of small-scale change means that we can provide regional decision-makers with new scales of information across a range of sectors. We demonstrate the potential value of these simulations both as scientific tools to increase climate process understanding and, when used with other models, for direct user applications. We describe how these ground-breaking simulations have been achieved under the U.K. Government’s Future Climate for Africa Programme. We anticipate a growing number of such simulations, which we advocate should become a routine component of climate projection, and encourage international coordination of such computationally and human-resource expensive simulations as effectively as possible.

Full access
Douglas J. Parker
,
Alan M. Blyth
,
Steven J. Woolnough
,
Andrew J. Dougill
,
Caroline L. Bain
,
Estelle de Coning
,
Mariane Diop-Kane
,
Andre Kamga Foamouhoue
,
Benjamin Lamptey
,
Ousmane Ndiaye
,
Paolo Ruti
,
Elijah A. Adefisan
,
Leonard K. Amekudzi
,
Philip Antwi-Agyei
,
Cathryn E. Birch
,
Carlo Cafaro
,
Hamish Carr
,
Benard Chanzu
,
Samantha J. Clarke
,
Helen Coskeran
,
Sylvester K. Danuor
,
Felipe M. de Andrade
,
Kone Diakaria
,
Cheikh Dione
,
Cheikh Abdoulahat Diop
,
Jennifer K. Fletcher
,
Amadou T. Gaye
,
James L. Groves
,
Masilin Gudoshava
,
Andrew J. Hartley
,
Linda C. Hirons
,
Ishiyaku Ibrahim
,
Tamora D. James
,
Kamoru A. Lawal
,
John H. Marsham
,
J. N. Mutemi
,
Emmanuel Chilekwu Okogbue
,
Eniola Olaniyan
,
J. B. Omotosho
,
Joseph Portuphy
,
Alexander J. Roberts
,
Juliane Schwendike
,
Zewdu T. Segele
,
Thorwald H. M. Stein
,
Andrea L. Taylor
,
Christopher M. Taylor
,
Tanya A. Warnaars
,
Stuart Webster
,
Beth J. Woodhams
, and
Lorraine Youds

Abstract

Africa is poised for a revolution in the quality and relevance of weather predictions, with potential for great benefits in terms of human and economic security. This revolution will be driven by recent international progress in nowcasting, numerical weather prediction, theoretical tropical dynamics, and forecast communication, but will depend on suitable scientific investment being made. The commercial sector has recognized this opportunity and new forecast products are being made available to African stakeholders. At this time, it is vital that robust scientific methods are used to develop and evaluate the new generation of forecasts. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) African Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques (SWIFT) project represents an international effort to advance scientific solutions across the fields of nowcasting, synoptic and short-range severe weather prediction, subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) prediction, user engagement, and forecast evaluation. This paper describes the opportunities facing African meteorology and the ways in which SWIFT is meeting those opportunities and identifying priority next steps. Delivery and maintenance of weather forecasting systems exploiting these new solutions requires a trained body of scientists with skills in research and training, modeling and operational prediction, and communications and leadership. By supporting partnerships between academia and operational agencies in four African partner countries, the SWIFT project is helping to build capacity and capability in African forecasting science. A highlight of SWIFT is the coordination of three weather forecasting “Testbeds”—the first of their kind in Africa—which have been used to bring new evaluation tools, research insights, user perspectives, and communications pathways into a semioperational forecasting environment.

Open access