Daytime low-level clouds in West Africa – occurrence, associated drivers, and shortwave radiation attenuation

Danso, Derrick K.; Anquetin, Sandrine; Diedhiou, Arona; Kouadio, Kouakou; Kobea, Arsène T.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-1133-2020

Articles | Volume 11, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-1133-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-1133-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 11, issue 4

Research article

|

11 Dec 2020

Research article |

| 11 Dec 2020

Daytime low-level clouds in West Africa – occurrence, associated drivers, and shortwave radiation attenuation

Derrick K. Danso, Sandrine Anquetin, Arona Diedhiou, Kouakou Kouadio, and Arsène T. Kobea

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-1133-2020-supplement

Data sets

AMMA-CATCH, a Critical Zone Observatory in West Africa Monitoring a Region in Transition S. Galle, M. Grippa, C. Peugeot, I. B. Moussa, B. Cappelaere, J. Demarty, E. Mougin, G. Panthou, P. Adjomayi, E. K. Agbossou, A. Ba, M. Boucher, J.-M. Cohard, M. Descloitres, L. Descroix, M. Diawara, M. Dossou, G. Favreau, F. Gangneron, M. Gosset, B. Hector, P. Hiernaux, B.-A. Issoufou, L. Kergoat, E. Lawin, T. Lebel, A. Legchenko, M. M. Abdou, O. Malam-Issa, O. Mamadou, Y. Nazoumou, T. Pellarin, G. Quantin, B. Sambou, J. Seghieri, L. Séguis, J.-P. Vandervaere, T. Vischel, J.-M. Vouillamoz, A. Zannou, S. Afouda, A. Alhassane, M. Arjounin, H. Barral, R. Biron, F. Cazenave, V. Chaffard, J.-P. Chazarin, H. Guyard, A. Koné, I. Mainassara, A. Mamane, M. Oi, T. Ouani, N. Soumaguel, M. Wubda, E. E. Ago, I. C. Alle, A. Allies, F. Arpin-Pont, B. Awessou, C. Cassé, G. Charvet, C. Dardel, A. Depeyre, F. B. Diallo, T. Do, C. Fatras, F. Frappart, L. Gal, T. Gascon, F. Gibon, I. Guiro, A. Ingatan, J. Kempf, D. O. V. Kotchoni, F. M. A. Lawson, C. Leauthaud, S. Louvet, E. Mason, C. C. Nguyen, B. Perrimond, C. Pierre, A. Richard, E. Robert, C. Rom\'a-Casc\'on, C. Velluet, and C. Wilcox https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.03.0062

The CloudSat radar-lidar geometrical profile product (RL-GeoProf): Updates, improvements, and selected results G. G. Mace and Q. Zhang https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD021374

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Short summary

The atmospheric and surface conditions that exist during the occurrence of daytime low-level clouds (LLCs) and their influence on solar radiation were investigated in West Africa. During the monsoon season, these LLCs are linked to high moisture flux driven by strong southwesterly winds from the Gulf of Guinea and significant background moisture levels. Their occurrence leads to a strong reduction in the incoming solar radiation and has large impacts on the surface energy budget.