AMMA's contribution to the evolution of prediction and decision-making systems for West Africa

The AMMA (African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis) project set out to better understand the geophysical processes which govern the evolution of the monsoon and provide the science needed to improve prediction and decision-support systems. The control exerted by weather and climate on agronomic production, water resources and public health was studied to evaluate the potential for populations to adapt. AMMA made advances which have the potential to improve forecasts from weather to climate scales. Translating them into operational tools for decision making will require improvements to the observational networks, and stronger support for the organizations which generate and disseminate application forecasts. Copyright (C) 2011 Royal Meteorological Society