This planning visit will enable researchers from the Columbia University Center for Climate Systems Research to build stronger collaborations with climate scientists at the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in Niamey, Niger. A climate simulation model suitable for tropical regions has been developed (with NSF support) at Columbia. Evaluations of the latest version of this model, the RM3, demonstrate its high potential for accurately predicting where and when precipitation occurs over West Africa. The first objective of this planning effort will be to install the RM3 model at ACMAD. Columbia University Associate Research Scientist, Dr. Matthew Fulakeza, will spend three weeks in Niamey working with his African counterparts to install the model and to troubleshoot RM3 simulations. Mr. Ali El Majdoub, ACMAD's Head of the Weather Watch and Prediction Department, will work with Fulakeza and provide relevant input and validation data for the trials. Once the RM3 is installed and working at ACMAD, the simulation products will be examined for their usefulness for daily weather forecasts and seasonal climate predictions. Evaluations of the seasonal climate predictions will provide valuable data for the international meteorological community, including U.S. scientists, who have been striving to perfect methods of seasonal climate prediction for West Africa. Having the RM3 working at ACMAD will also improve the quality of ACMAD's delivery of climate information to its 52- member African nations; improved prediction during the region's summer monsoon season could significantly contribute to the sustainable development of the region. The planning visit to Niger will be timed so that Fulakeza can report on the RM3/ACMAD collaborations at the First International Meeting of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA, a large international research program), to be held in Dakar, Senegal in late 2005.The collaboration will continue with a later visit by El Majdoub to Columbia University where he will be able to participate in further development of the model and in the evaluation of RM3 products.
The collaboration will enable a contribution of American technology towards positive societal impacts in Africa, such as in agriculture and commerce, which are very sensitive to climatic events. The Columbia researchers will benefit from the opportunity to evaluate their model in an operational setting that includes practical applications. The collaboration will open a conduit of communication that will facilitate on-going and future exchanges of scientific know-how for the mutual benefit of both communities.
