AMMA Program
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The AMMA program (Multidisciplinary Analysis of the African Monsoon) is an international climate research initiative focused on the region stretching from the Sahel to the Gulf of Guinea. Its main objective is to improve understanding of the currently unpredictable nature of the West African monsoon. The program also incorporates a societal dimension—studying daily life in the West African monsoon region—and aims to support decision-making by local authorities.
The first phase of AMMA took place from 2002 to 2009, while a second phase was launched in 2010 and planned to span ten years. (Official website: http://www.amma-international.org/).
West Africa's meteorological significance was long underestimated globally. However, the region is the origin of African easterly waves, which can develop into Atlantic hurricanes that move toward Central America and influence weather patterns in Europe.
Political instability and humanitarian crises in West Africa over the past two decades severely impacted the region's meteorological infrastructure, leaving local networks unable to ensure public safety or meet their data-sharing obligations with the global scientific community.
The project's goals include not only understanding the dramatic variations in rainfall across the Sahel from 1970 to 1995, but also identifying the geophysical and human-driven mechanisms involved in the West African monsoon system.
AMMA brings together more than 100 laboratories from Africa, Europe, and North America, and involves over 600 researchers.
The year 2006 marked a period of intensive observation, featuring six research aircraft, three oceanographic research vessels, and instrumented weather balloons. These assets were deployed to collect detailed data on atmospheric flows, ocean salinity, and marine currents.
The program's third major conference was held in Ouagadougou in late July 2009.
External links
[edit]- AMMA International – Official Homepage
- On Canal IRD – A series of short online videos (7 videos, each about 3 minutes long) produced by the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) presenting an overview of the AMMA program.