JISAO data

Africa rainfall indices, 1901-94

Professor Sharon Nicholson ( sen@met.fsu.edu )
Department of Meteorology
Florida State University
WWW page


Plot of Sahel, Soudan, and Guinea 
Coast annual rainfall.
PostScript | JPEG
The indices are averages of standardized annual rainfall amounts for stations in the indicated regions. African rainfall exhibits variability on year to year and decadal time scales.



Data:
4-column ascii table: year, Sahel, Soudan, Guinea Coast values


Digital values of the indices. Index values * 100.
 Year Sahel Soudan Guinea Coast
 1901    88     8    94       
 1902   -85   -71   -46       
 1903  -105    28  -130       
 1904   -16     8  -123       
 1905   102    55   -80       
 1906   220   239   -49       
 1907   -35   -74    15       
 1908   -45     2   -18       
 1909    30   150    58       
 1910   -85   -47   174       
 1911   -42   -47   108       
 1912    52  -134  -158       
 1913  -133  -227   -14       
 1914  -126   -47    58       
 1915   -54    14    25       
 1916    39    54    20       
 1917    49     2   297       
 1918   153   131   -76       
 1919   -35   -35  -173       
 1920    71    14  -181       
 1921     8   -64    51       
 1922    63    52   -39       
 1923     4    14    -6       
 1924    42    99    45       
 1925    15    -9    63       
 1926   -56   -80   -13       
 1927   203   178   -14       
 1928   -23    98    43       
 1929    61    46    89       
 1930    97    46    15       
 1931   -73    -1    91       
 1932    71    84   -64       
 1933   138   132   197       
 1934   -35    14    33       
 1935    35   117   101       
 1936   150   191   -28       
 1937    -8   -31   -49       
 1938    25    55     0       
 1939    35    79   -19       
 1940    -9    13    10       
 1941   -69   -83     4       
 1942  -104   -28   -43       
 1943   131   121    61       
 1944     8   -61    32       
 1945    44    79   -67       
 1946    42    99  -112       
 1947    27   -42   137       
 1948   -33    -8   -97       
 1949   -95   -88    63       
 1950   208   194   -90       
 1951    32   112    91       
 1952   176   151    98       
 1953   158    88    14       
 1954   193   132    73       
 1955   157   106   152       
 1956    98    51   -64       
 1957    98   123   154       
 1958   194   136  -128       
 1959    61    27   101       
 1960     4    35    94       
 1961    68    63   -38       
 1962    45    47   177       
 1963    13    17   253       
 1964    47    95   -49       
 1965    30    36    17       
 1966    30    10     2       
 1967    54    69   -59       
 1968   -42  -110   297       
 1969    51    30   -13       
 1970   -62   -66   -54       
 1971  -100   -77    -8       
 1972  -193  -167   -62       
 1973  -157  -179   -29       
 1974   -28   -36    -3       
 1975     9   -16   -44       
 1976   -76   -30   -66       
 1977  -124  -113  -160       
 1978   -13     8   -62       
 1979   -71   -66   106       
 1980   -37  -105    14       
 1981   -74  -104   -97       
 1982  -174  -153   -74       
 1983  -208  -219  -231       
 1984  -225  -212     5       
 1985  -131  -132   -23       
 1986  -136  -112  -170       
 1987  -179  -176     2       
 1988   -30   -14   -19       
 1989   -74   -60    27       
 1990  -128  -149   -94       
 1991   -45   -83   -67       
 1992  -131  -107  -138       
 1993   -71  -123   -84       
 1994    49    36   -36       




References:
Construction of the rainfall indices:
Nicholson, S. E., 1979: Revised rainfall series for the West African subtropics. Mon. Wea. Rev., 107, 620-623.

General African rainfall variability:
_____, 1993: An overview of African rainfall fluctuations of the last decade. Journal of Climate, 6, 1463-1466.
_____, 1994: Recent rainfall fluctuations in Africa and their relationships to past conditions over the continent. The Holocene, 4, 121-131.
_____, M. B. Ba, and J. Y. Kim, 1996: Rainfall in the Sahel during 1994. Journal of Climate, 9, 1673-1676.
More recent Nicholson publications

ENSO influences on African rainfall:
_____, and D. Entekhabi, 1986: The quasi-periodic behavior of rainfall variability in Africa and its Relationship to the Southern Oscillation. Archives for Meteorology, Geophysics and Bioclimatology, Series A, 34, 311-348.
_____, and J. Kim, 1997: The Relationship of the El-Niño Southern Oscillation to African Rainfall. International Journal of Climatology, 17, 117-135.
More recent Nicholson publications


May 2002
Todd Mitchell (mitchell@atmos.washington.edu)
JISAO data