Amadou Thierno Gaye

Cheikh Anta Diop University | UCAD · Ecole Superieure Polytechnique Laboratoire de Physique de l'Atmosphère et de l'Océan Siméon Fongang

Climate change research is broad, diverse and constantly growing. Cross- and interdisciplinary understanding is essential for generating robust science advice for policy. However, it is challenging to prioritise and navigate the ever-expanding peer-reviewed literature. To address this, we gathered input from experts across various research fields t...

This study explores the spatiotemporal variability of the onset, end, and duration of the rainy season in Senegal. These phenological parameters, crucial for agricultural planning in West Africa, exhibit high interannual and spatial variability linked to precipitation. The objective is to detect and spatially classify these indices across Senegal u...

The diurnal cycle and intra-seasonal variation of the rainfall amount, frequency and intensity, and durations are analysed using rainfall data from a dense network of 18 raingauges over Ndiaganiao in Thiès region in Senegal, during the 2007-2015 period. This study uses a high temporal resolution of rainfall data. Raingauge tilts are converted to pr...

Understanding and assessing hydroclimate changes is essential to provide reliable information in developing countries such as Senegal in order to guide adaptation strategies. In this work, we have examined the projected changes in temperature and precipitation over the six eco-geographical zones in Senegal. Furthermore, we have assessed the river f...

Saharan dust represents more than 50% of the total desert dust emitted around the globe and its radiative effect significantly affects the atmospheric circulation at a continental scale. Previous studies on dust vertical distribution and the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) showed some shortcomings that could be attributed to imperfect representation of the...

We investigate the atmospheric response to seasonal variations in sea surface temperature (SST) in the eastern tropical Atlantic during the boreal summer, using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional atmospheric model. Three ensembles of 11 simulations each are produced with different SST forcings: the control ensemble (CTL) uses the o...

Senegal, a coastal country in the semi-arid Sahel region, faces significant risks associated with climate variability and climate change. Climate change is already affecting vulnerable people’s wellbeing and it’s expected to contribute to the (re)emergence of vector-borne, some water-borne and heat-related diseases, which will have disastrous conse...

This study investigates the spatio-temporal variability of the onset, offset, and Length of the rainy season in Senegal over the 1981-2018 period. The onset, offset dates, and length of the rainy season are crucial parameters for agricultural planning in West Africa, which exhibits high interannual and spatial variability in rainfall. The objective...

This study aims to examine the atmospheric conditions characterising fog phenomena on the Senegalese coast focusing on two specific instances that occurred on April 3 and April 30, 2023. These events were detected by the LIDAR Ceilometer installed at LPAOSF/ESP/UCAD and confirmed on the METARs of the meteorological stations at Dakar and Diass airpo...

The physical mechanisms associated with heat waves (HWs) are well known in the midlatitudes but still under-documented in the Sahel. Specifically, the role of anthropogenic and natural changes in tropospheric aerosols regarding HWs remains an issue to address. Our study focuses on the characterisation of the dusty HWs in the Sahel, which generally...

This study aims at enhancing climate data in Senegal using information from the Global Surface Summary of the Day (GSOD). It uses data from 1991 to 2022 from major secondary synoptic stations in Senegal. These data are subject to missing values (data gaps). To address these gaps, multiple imputation was used based on three machine learning models:...

Climate has a strong influence on agriculture, which is considered the most dependent human activity on climate variations. The future performance of the Senegalese agricultural sector will depend on its ability to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. This study demonstrated that the impact of three climate change scenarios (ssp126, ssp...

This research studies the capability of the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with the Chemistry/Aerosol module (WRF-Chem) with and without parametrization to reproduce a dust storm, which was held on 27th June 2018 over Sahara region. The authors use satellite observations and ground-based measurements to evaluate the WRF-Chem simulat...

Malaria is a constant reminder of the climate change impacts on health. Many studies have investigated the influence of climatic parameters on malaria transmission. Climate conditions can modulate malaria transmission through increased temperature, which reduces the duration of the parasite's reproductive cycle inside the mosquito. The rainfall int...

This study focuses on the Sahel, one of the areas with the highest concentration of desert dust, with source areas having fine particle emissions in Chad, Niger, Mauritania, etc. It also includes areas of subsidence of air masses that promote the deposition of dust, such as Senegal. It turns out that the countries of Sahel are among the poorest in...

This study focuses on the Sahel, one of the areas with the highest concentration of desert dust, with source areas having fine particle emissions in Chad, Niger, Mauritania, etc. It also includes areas of subsidence of air masses that promote the deposition of dust, such as Senegal. It turns out that the countries of Sahel are among the poorest in...

Seasonal forecasting of the rainfall characteristics in Sahel is of crucial interest in determining crop variability in these countries. This study aims to provide further characterization of nine rainfall metrics over Senegal (Onset, cessation, LRS, CDD, CDD7, CDD15, NR90p, NR95p, NR99p) and their response to global SST patterns from 1981 to 2018....

Malaria is a constant reminder of the climate change impacts on health. Many studies have investigated the influence of climatic parameters on the of malaria transmission. Climate conditions can modulate malaria transmission through increased temperature, which reduces the duration of the parasite's reproductive cycle inside the mosquito. The inten...

Rainfall characteristics are crucial in monsoon regions, in particular for agriculture. Crop yields indeed depend on the rainfall seasonal amounts, but also on other rainfall characteristics such as the onset of the rainy season or the distribution of rainy days. In the Sahel region, while the average amount of seasonal rainfall has been shown to b...

Malaria is a constant reminder of the climate change impacts on health. Many studies have investigated the influence of climatic parameters on the of malaria transmission. Climate conditions can modulate malaria transmission through increased temperature, which reduces the duration of the parasite's reproductive cycle inside the mosquito. The inten...

Desert aerosols suspended in the atmosphere are a very marked fact in West Africa with estimates of 400 to 1000 million tons produced annually and concentrations exceeding 50 μg · m3 in Burkina. In Bamako, the daily dust concentration can go up to reach 504 μg/m3. The Sahara and the Sahel are recognized as the primary desert aerosol producing regio...

This work concerns the 10˚ North, 20˚ North African band. Area renowned for having some of the poorest countries in the world. It is also home to the Sahelian strip and part of the Sahara. The countries in this zone have a relatively low electrification rate compared to the enlightened country. To solve this problem, these countries want to turn to...

Sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the North Eastern Tropical Atlantic has its center of action in the Senegalese–Mauritanian upwelling system, where its drivers are wind-induced ocean dynamics and air–sea thermodynamic processes. Thus, a better understanding of the local wind variations, together with their predictability, contributes to...

processes involved in the dust distribution

Saharan dust represents more than 50% of the total desert dust emitted around the globe and its radiative effect significantly affects the atmospheric circulation at a continental scale. Previous studies on dust vertical distribution and the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) showed some shortcomings that could be attributed to imperfect representation of the...

Climate variability is a key factor in driving malaria outbreaks. As shown in previous studies, climate-driven malaria modeling provides a better understanding of malaria transmission dynamics, generating malaria-related parameters validated as a reliable benchmark to assess the impact of climate on malaria. In this framework, the present study use...

The three measurement periods: the TOMS Nimbus-7 TOMSN7L3 v008 from 1978 to 1993, the TOMS EP TOMSEPL3 v008 from 1996 to 2005 and the OMI OMTO3d v003 from 2004 to 2008 have allowed the presence of dust to be observed in the 10 ̊ North to 20 ̊ North latitudinal band (10 - 20 band) of Africa. The 10 - 20 band has a permanent dust presence. The AERONE...

COVID-19, caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a very contagious disease that has killed many people worldwide. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the spread of the disease appears to be slower in Africa. Although several studies have been published on the relationship between meteo...

The tropical Atlantic Warm Pool is one of the main drivers of the marine intertropical convergence zone and the associated coastal Northeast Brazilian and West-African monsoons. Its meridional displacement is driven by the solar cycle, modulated by the atmosphere and ocean interactions, whose nature and respective proportions are still poorly under...

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 su...

This study aims to show what control the vertical distribution of mineral dust over the Western Africa region. We diagnose dust distribution and assess the contribution of each physical processes using the new configuration of the LMDZ model coupled online to the Simplified Aerosol Model (SPLA).

Haboob occurrence strongly impacts the annual variability of airborne desert dust in North Africa with more dust raised from erodible surfaces in the early summer (monsoon) season when deep convective storms are common but soil moisture and vegetation cover are low. On 27 June 2018, a large dust storm is initiated in North Africa associated with an...

This study analyses the long‐term (1950–2100) observed and projected changes in springtime (March–May) heat waves (HWs) in West Africa under climate change. To that end, 28 climate models participating to the fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) are considered, after a statistical post‐correction of their biases. A multi‐scale approa...

We examine the role of zonal Ekman transport along the coast of Senegal on 30 August 2015 when the tropical disturbance associated with Tropical Cyclone Fred was located to the west of Senegal, causing considerable coastal damage in the southern Senegal–Gambia domain (south of Dakar, Senegal). Ten-meter winds from three Weather Research and Forecas...

Studying the relationship between potential high-impact precipitation and crop yields can help us understand the impact of the intensification of the hydrological cycle on agricultural production. The objective of this study is to analyse the contribution of intra seasonal rainfall indicators, namely dry and wet spells, for predicting millet yields...

Following the high temperatures recorded in the Sahel during 2010 and most recently in May 2013 in the northern part of Senegal where the temperature oscillated between 45 and 50 degrees, significant human deaths were recorded. A good understanding of the dynamics of these heat waves thus become necessary not only to improve the prediction of these...

In this study, the detection and characteristics of dry/wet spells (defined as episodes when precipitation is abnormally low or high compared to usual climatology) drawn from several datasets are compared for Senegal. Here, four datasets are based on satellite data (TRMM-3B42 V7, CMORPH V1.0, TAMSAT V3, and CHIRPS V2. 0), two on reanalysis products...

The COVID-19 disease, caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a very contagious disease that has killed many people around the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) data, the spread of the disease appears to be slower in Africa. Although a number of studies have been published on the relation...

Monthly means, seasonal variances, and trends of a global climatology boundary layer height (BLH) over West Africa are presented based on 36 years (1979-2014) of six-hourly ERA-Interim reanalysis. In this region, we found that there is a link between the West Africa Monsoon (WAM) and the monthly means of BLH where largest values of BLH variances ar...

The ability of the state-of-the-art Global and Regional Climate Models (GCMs and RCMs) to reproduce the mean and spatial characteristics of extreme precipitation indices over Africa is evaluated. In particular, the extent to which CORDEX (COordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment) adds useful details on the performance of CMIP5 (Coupled Model Int...

Malaria is a major public health problem in West Africa. Previous studies have shown that climate variability significantly affects malaria transmission. The lack of continuous observed weather station data and the absence of surveillance data for malaria over long periods have led to the use of reanalysis data to drive malaria models. In this stud...

Senegal is a sub-Saharan country marked by rainfed agriculture, which is under the recurrent threat of climatic upheaval, mostly due to irregular rainfall and temperature. This study shows evidence of the influence of daily rainfall metrics on crop (groundnut and millet) yields. Statistical analysis has been carried out using observational datasets...

We analyse uncertainties associated with the main features of the annual cycle of West African rainfall (amplitude, timing, duration) in 15 CMIP5 simulations over the Sahelian and Guinean regions with satellite daily precipitation estimates. The annual cycle of indices based on daily rainfall such as the frequency and the intensity of wet days, the...

The Westward transport of mineral dust from the North Africa continent to Atlantic Ocean can produce poor air quality, low visibilities, and negatively impacting respiratory and cardiac health due to the optical and physical properties of aerosols. The dynamical impact of the sea-breeze on the dust vertical distribution in West Africa remains unkno...

This study analyses uncertainties associated with the main features of the annual cycle of West African rainfall (amplitude, timing, duration) in 15 CMIP5 simulations over the Sahelian and Guinean regions with satellite daily precipitation estimates. The annual cycle of indices based on daily rainfall such as the frequency and the intensity of wet...

We examine the role of zonal Ekman transport along the coast of Senegal on 30 August, 2015 when the tropical disturbance associated with Tropical Cyclone Fred was located to the west of Senegal causing considerable coastal damage to coastal areas south of Dakar, Senegal. Ten-meter winds from three Weather Research and Forecast model simulations wer...

The health of the ocean, central to human well-being, has now reached a critical point. Most fish stocks are overexploited, climate change and increased dissolved carbon dioxide are changing ocean chemistry and disrupting species throughout food webs, and the fundamental capacity of the ocean to regulate the climate has been altered. However, key t...

Upwelling processes bring nutrient-rich waters from the deep ocean to the surface. Areas of upwelling are often associated with high productivity, offering great economic value in terms of fisheries. The sensitivity of spring/summer-time coastal upwelling systems to climate change has recently received a lot of attention. Several studies have sugge...

This study explores the potential response of the seasonal cycle of extreme rainfall indices over Central Africa (CA) to the global warming for both the middle (2029-2058) and late twenty-first century (2069-2098), based on analysis of multi-model ensembles mean of fifteen regional climate models (RCMs). Although few dry/wet biases are still eviden...

Based on 12 Senegalese stations of the Global Summary of the Day (GSOD) database (1979–2014), heat waves (HW) are defined for each station in spring (March–April–May, the hottest season in Senegal) as the daily maximum temperature (Tx), minimum temperature (Tn), or average apparent temperature of the day (AT), exceeding the corresponding 95% mobile...

In this study, wet and dry spells over Senegal provided by four datasets based on satellite data (TRMM-3B42 V7, TAMSAT V3, CMORPH V1.0, CHIRPS V2.0), two fully based on (re)analyses (NCEP-CFSR, ERA5) and one was fully based on gauge observations (CPC Unified V1.0/RT) are compared with respect to observation datasets derived from 65 rain gauge netwo...

The ability of the state-of-the-art Global and Regional Climate Models (GCMs and RCMs) to reproduce the mean and spatial characteristics of extreme precipitation indices over Africa is evaluated. In particular, the extent to which CORDEX (COordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment) adds useful details on the performance of CMIP5 (Coupled Model Int...

This study analyses uncertainties associated with the annual cycle of West African rainfall characteristics in 15 simulations of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) over the Sahel and Guinean regions. Indices based on daily rainfall such as the frequency and the ntensity of wet days, the consecutive dry days (CDD) and wet days...

This study analyses uncertainties associated with the annual cycle of West African rainfall characteristics in 15 simulations of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) over the Sahel and Guinean regions. Indices based on daily rainfall such as the frequency and the ntensity of wet days, the consecutive dry days (CDD) and wet days...

In recent climate change impact studies, bias correction is often used to overcome the well-known biases in global and regional models output. This study assesses the potential impact of bias correction on extreme precipitation and temperature of the Regional Climate Model REMO over the Senegal River Basin under the representative concentration pat...

The tropical Atlantic is home to multiple coupled climate variations covering a wide range of timescales and impacting societally relevant phenomena such as continental rainfall, Atlantic hurricane activity, oceanic biological productivity, and atmospheric circulation in the equatorial Pacific. The tropical Atlantic also connects the southern and n...

This study focuses on the ability of the global Land Data Assimilation System, LDAS-Monde, to improve the representation of land surface variables (LSVs) over Burkina-Faso through the joint assimilation of satellite derived surface soil moisture (SSM) and leaf area index (LAI) from January 2001 to June 2018. The LDAS-Monde offline system is forced...