poster

A strong ocean-atmosphere coupling exists in the equatorial region (northern front) of the Tropical Atlantic cold tongue, implying surface winds and sea surface temperature (SST): cold intraseasonal (respectively warm) SST anomalies strengthen (weaken) southerlies between the Equator and the Guinean coast during a few days. Such interactions have a significant contribution in the functioning and partitioning of the water cycle in spring over the ocean as well as later in the season over West Africa. This study aims to describe the impact of some physical schemes of regional models on the air-sea interaction in the Atlantic Tropical. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF), we perform an ensemble of simulations for the period April-Jul 2006 that involves testing atmospheric convection, cloud microphysics, boundary layer and radiation schemes. Results are compared to satellite-based products (TRMM, QUICKSCAT, TMI,SRB) and recent reanalysis including CFSR, MERRA, ERA-Interim and the ECMWF special reanalysis (ERA-AMMA) produced within the AMMA project.