THE SENSITIVITY OF SUB-SAHARAN PRECIPITATION TO ATLANTIC SST

The climate model of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Hansen et al., 1983) is used to study the sensitivity of sub-Saharan rainfall to Atlantic Ocean SST. Initial changes of SST in the South Atlantic Ocean on March 1st are shown to reduce the June-August sub-Saharan precipitation totals using the model version with an interactive ocean that updates SST. Evidence is offered in support of theories that link Sahel drought with anomalously warm SST in the eastern South Atlantic and the study compares the model's response to spatially coherent SST anomalies with the response to random SST perturbations. The physical processes whereby SST and sea-level pressure synoptics influence the African summer monsoon are discussed in reference to the simulations. Predictibility of Sahel summer rainfall based on spring SST patterns or spring atmospheric circulation patterns is implied by the results. The SST/Sahel drought links are discussed for projections of future climate characteristics.