​​​The Congo Basin rainfall paradox 

The Congo Basin is one of the most convectively active regions of the world and is a key part of the large- scale air circulation that drives the climate system. The region receives around 1500–2000 mm of rainfall per year with over 60% of the rainfall occurring in the wet seasons of March to May and September to November. Approximately 75% of the rainfall is delivered by mesoscale convective systems which are contiguous areas of cold cloud that exceed 25,000 km2 in size. The regional climate system is associated with the world’s greatest frequency of thunderstorms and lightning (Cecil et al., 2015; Clulow et al., 2018)​.

The CRAFT project involves a field campaign which consists of two elements – an Extended Operation Period (EOP) and an Intensive Operation Period (IOP). The goal of the EOP is to deploy 30 automatic weather stations (AWSs) across the basin, including 6 in Gabon, Cameroon and Republic of Congo respectively and 12 in the DRC. The AWSs will be set to record temperature, pressure, humidity, solar radiation, wind speed and direction at minute intervals. The AWSs will be deployed as early in the project as possible and will run for at least the length of the project.

The IOP will see the deployment of two Lidar systems and three radiosonde stations. Lidar will run through the 30-day IOP and will be deployed so as to observe low level winds in the case of the LLWs in Gabon and in the core of the basin at Yangambi. Lidar will record winds to around 2000m at a vertical resolution of 10m and a time resolution of 15 minutes for the 30-day IOP. Supplementing the Lidar will be three radiosonde stations with weather balloons released every three hours recording temperature, pressure, humidity and winds from the surface to the top of the atmosphere.

PhD description

Theme: vertical profile of the regional circulation in the Congo Basin

​​This project will investigate the lower and mid-level regional circulation over Congo Basin as recorded during the EOP and IOP field campaigns. Particular attention will be given to the investigation of the predominance of the lower level westerly winds associated with divergence and subsidence, while the mid-troposphere is dominated by easterlies and moisture convergence, mainly during the wet seasons. The structure of shallow circulation over northern and southern Congo Basin will be explored. These features will be assessed in observations and reanalyses.​​ ​​​​​​

​​​You will be encouraged to develop and strengthen collaborations with other CBSI students and researchers workin​​g​​ in related fields, particularly on participatory science methods for local communities to monitor weather and climate. You will be supported to publish your work in leading academic journals and communicate your results as widely as possible, including to policy makers.​​​​​​

​​​This project is part of the Congo Basin Science Initiative’s Climate and Meteorology Observatory which will extend monitoring of the climate across the Congo Basin, as part of the CBSI Science and Capacity Building Plan. ​​​​​​​

​​​The project is a collaboration between the University of Oxford, the University of Yaounde, Yaounde, and the Higher Institute of Applied Techniques in Kinshasa, DRC.​​