A cyclogenesis index for tropical Atlantic off the African coasts

International audience he westward moving Soudano-Sahelian mesoscale convective systems (MCS) frequently reach and cross the Atlantic Coast. At the end of their continental route, most MCS weaken and vanish over the ocean, near the coast, while others strengthen. The latter play an important part in the genesis of some Atlantic tropical cyclones. In the present paper, following the work of Gray, an index liable to be associated with the coast-crossing MCS cyclonic evolution is built. The data used in this work are observations by the Dakar-Yoff radar, reanalyses of NCEP/NCAR (National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research), outgoing long wave radiation at the top of the atmosphere, and the resources of the National Hurricane Center data base. Several terms describing the variation of individual meteorological parameters are first analysed and then combined into an index of cyclogenesis or ICY. Combination of vertical vorticity at 925 hPa and potential vorticity at 700 hPa is notably found to be a good factor to discriminate between strengthening and weakening MCS over the near Atlantic. A good correlation between the ICY maximum and the beginning of the MCS cyclogenesis is observed. This index enables discrimination of the simultaneous presence of two separate cyclonic perturbations over the Atlantic. These results show that the sole variable ICY is useful to detect a cyclogenesis process in progress in a Sahelian MCS.