Convective Available Potential Energy and Convective Inhibition in ERA-Interim Reanalysis during the AMMA SOP Campaign

Authors

  • Cyrille Meukaleuni

    Department of Physics, The University Institute of the Coast, Douala P.O Box 3001, Cameroon

    Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, Douala P.O Box 24157, Cameroon
  • Cyrille A. Mezoue

    Department of Physics, National Higher Polytechnic School of Douala, University of Douala, Douala P.O Box 24157, Cameroon
  • Eric Efon

    Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Bamenda, Bambili P.O. Box 39, Cameroon
  • Sinclair Zebaze

    Indiana University Bloomington: Bloomington, Indiana, Bloomington, IN 47405-7000, USA
  • André Lenouo

    Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, Douala P.O Box 24157, Cameroon
  • David Monkam

    Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, Douala P.O Box 24157, Cameroon
  • Desmond Manatsa

    Department of Geography, Faculty of Letter, Bindura University of Science Education, Bindura P. Bag 1020, Zimbabwe

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jasr.v8i1.7841
Received: 21 November 2024 | Revised: 7 January 2025 | Accepted: 11 January 2025 | Published Online: 15 January 2025

Abstract

A statistical analysis of Convective Inhibition (CIN) and Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) is conducted using a six-hourly ERA-Interim dataset for the summer of 2006 over West Africa as part of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) SOP3 Campaign. This study analyses the trends and empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) of CAPE and CIN, along with the summer variability of CAPE and CIN with precipitation. CAPE exhibits its maximum over the continent around 14°N, while CIN peaks over the ocean. The variance of the main EOF is about 42% and its amplitude is low in the equatorial zone and slightly higher in the Sahelian regions. The variance of the second EOF is 16.4% and shows its maximum towards the south of Gambia. The significance of the trends of the pairs (first and second) of CAPE and CIN with rainfall is explored through the canonical correlation analysis (CCA) of these three parameters. The first and second pairs of CCA show a correlation of around 68% and 60%, respectively, with 12.2 and 10.8 degrees of freedom. The correlation coefficient at the 95% confidence level is 0.21 for the first CCA pairs and 0.65 for the second CCA pairs. In the Sahelian and Sudanese regions, the variance is approximately 78% and 73% respectively, primarily driven by the first CCA pair. The Guinea and wet equatorial areas are influenced by the second CCA pair, where the explained regional variance exceeds 60%.

Keywords:

CAPE; CIN; West Africa; Era-Interim

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How to Cite

Meukaleuni, C., Mezoue, C. A., Efon, E., Zebaze, S., Lenouo, A., Monkam, D., & Manatsa, D. (2025). Convective Available Potential Energy and Convective Inhibition in ERA-Interim Reanalysis during the AMMA SOP Campaign. Journal of Atmospheric Science Research, 8(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.30564/jasr.v8i1.7841

Issue

Vol. 8 , Iss. 1 (January 2025)

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 cyrille meukaleuni, Cyrille A. Mezoue, eric Efon, sinclair Zebaze, Andre Lenouo, David Monkam, desmond Manatsa

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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