HR: 0800h
AN: B31B-0221    [Abstracts]
TI: Vegetation Change in West Africa as Assessed by Surface-Based and Satellite Observations
AU: * States, J A
EM: states@met.fsu.edu
AF: Florida State Univ, Meteorology Dept Florida State Univ, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4520 United States
AU: Nicholson, S E
EM: sen@met.fsu.edu
AF: Florida State Univ, Meteorology Dept Florida State Univ, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4520 United States
AB: The semi-arid Sahel of West Africa has experienced a remarkable change of climate over the last century. Long-term means of precipitation for 30 year periods have declined by 30% to 50% between 1931-60 and 1968-97. During this time there has been anecdotal evidence of major shifts in the vegetation zones. We have attempted to document these shifts by using maps and transcript studies from the 1950s to reconstruct the vegetation patterns that prevailed earlier in the century. AVHRR and MODIS have been used to determine vegetation classes and other characteristics for the more recent decades. The climatic variables that are associated with various types are assessed. A climate/vegetation analysis has been carried out for both the wetter conditions earlier in the century and for the recent dry decades.
DE: 3322 Land/atmosphere interactions
DE: 3309 Climatology (1620)
DE: 1812 Drought
DE: 1640 Remote sensing
DE: 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting