Abstract. The latest version of RegCM4 with CLM4.5 as land surface scheme was used to assess the performance and the sensitivity of the simulated West African climate system to different convection schemes. The sensitivity studies were performed over the West Africa domain from November 2002 to December 2004, at spatial resolution of 50 km × 50 km and involved five (5) convective schemes: (i) Emanuel; (ii) Grell; (iii) Emanuel over land and Grell over ocean (Mix1); (iv) Grell over land and Emanuel over ocean (Mix2); and (v) Tiedtke. All simulations were forced with ERA-Interim data. Validation of surface temperature at 2 m and precipitation were conducted using respectively data from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) and Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) during June to September (rainy season). Quantitative assessment of the sensitivity tests were carried out using the mean bias, the pattern correlation coefficient, the root mean square difference, the probability density function of the temperature bias and the Taylor diagram. Results revealed a better performance of the configuration with Emanuel convection scheme to simulate the spatial and temporal variability of the temperature and the precipitation. Therefore, the configuration of RegCM4 with CLM4.5 as land surface model and implementing Emanuel convective scheme is recommended for the study of the West African climate system.
The West African climate system: a review of the AMMA model inter-comparison initiatives