| Autor: |
Falaiye OA; University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria., Abimbola OJ; Federal University Lafia, Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria., Pinker RT; Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA., Pérez-Ramírez D; Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.; Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research, Universities Space Research Association (GESTAR/USRA), Columbia, MD, USA., Willoughby AA; Department of Physical Sciences, Covenant University, Sango-Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria. |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Zdroj: |
Heliyon [Heliyon] 2018 Sep 05; Vol. 4 (9), pp. e00765. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Sep 05 (Print Publication: 2018). |
| DOI: |
10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00765 |
| Abstrakt: |
Precipitable water vapor (PWV) is an important climate parameter indicative of available moisture in the atmosphere; it is also an important greenhouse gas. Observations of precipitable water vapor in sub-Sahel West Africa are almost non-existent. Several Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites have been established across West Africa, and observations from four of them, namely, Ilorin (4.34° E, 8.32° N), Cinzana (5.93° W, 13.28° N), Banizoumbou (2.67° E, 13.54° N) and Dakar (16.96° W, 14.39° N) are being used in this study. Data spanning the period from 2004 to 2014 have been selected; they include conventional humidity parameters, remotely sensed aerosol and precipitable water information and numerical model outputs. Since in Africa, only conventional information on humidity parameters is available, it is important to utilize the unique observations from the AERONET network to calibrate empirical formulas frequently used to estimate precipitable water vapor from humidity measurements. An empirical formula of the form P W V = a T d + b where T d is the surface dew point temperature, a and b are constants, was fitted to the data and is proposed as applicable to the climatic condition of the sub-Sahel. Moreover, we have also used the AERONET information to evaluate the capabilities of well-established numerical weather prediction (NWP) models such as ERA Interim Reanalysis, NCEP-DOE Reanalysis II and NCEP-CFSR, to estimate precipitable water vapor in the sub-Sahel West Africa; it was found that the models tend to overestimate the amount of precipitable water at the selected sites by about 25 %. |
| Databáze: |
MEDLINE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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