Argo in West Africa: Implications for a regional understanding of sea surface temperature and concomitant weather patterns

Regina Folorunsho

Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research,
Victoria Island
Lagos
Nigeria

Sea Surface Temperature (SST) variabilities in West Africa play important roles in the meteorological processes. Specifically, sea surface temperatures variabilities are known to play important roles in the prevalence of upwelling and weather patterns in the dry and wet seasons however, there is paucity of SST data to allow the spatial and seasonal understanding of upwelling and weather parameters in West Africa. While several sea surfaces temperature observing stations like insitu moored buoys, research cruises and individual programmers have collected SST data in the region over time, most of the data lack regional and long-term series mode. The Argo programme is a new programme that could provide a long term and spatial coverage of the region and hence ensure better understanding of upwelling, weather and other related metocean processes. Such a programme could improve the paucity of data and lead to a better understanding of upwelling, and seasonal changes in weather parameters like rainfall and air temperature in the region.