Mid-level clouds in West Africa : observation, characterisation, modelling

Abstract

Clouds have an important impact on the water and energy fluxes within the atmosphere. They also represent one of the main sources of uncertainties of climate models projections as a consequence of the difficulty to parametrize their associated processes as well as their interactions with their environment. In this thesis mid-level clouds are studied. Such clouds have been much less studied than low clouds and high clouds and the focus is on the West Africa. West Africa is characterized by a strong seasonality in precipitation that occur in the Sahel from June to September named the monsoon season. This period also coincides with the annual maximum of the cloud cover. Taking advantage of the one-year ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) deployment in 2006 in Niamey (Niger), Bouniol et al. (2012) documented the distinct cloud types observed during the monsoon and showed a frequent occurrence of clouds around 6 km height with an important radiative impact in the surface short-wave and long-wave domains. In the continuity of this study, the aim of this thesis is therefore to analyse in more details these mid-level clouds by documenting their occurrence, their diurnal cycle as well as their macro- and microphysical characteristics. We also analyse the thermodynamical environment in which these clouds are observed and their radiative effects. In a process-oriented evaluation of CMIP5 climate models, Roehrig et al. (2013) showed an underestimation of mid-level clouds. We document more precisely here how climate models and limited-area models simulate these mid-level clouds. To document those clouds, we combine observational data from active remote sensing instruments deployed at the two groundbased sites : Niamey in the Sahel and Bordj Badji Mokhtar in the Sahara, with merged CloudSatCALIPSO satellite. These observations reveal an occurrence of those clouds throughout the year with a predominance around the monsoon season. These clouds are preferentially observed in the