The CLIVAR VACS panel had the idea of developing a climate atlas with a focus on the observed and modelled climate of Africa. The Atlas currently has 5 parts, with a six part (FAQs on African Climate) in draft form. Parts 1 and II are on the observed climatology over Africa and surrounding tropics. Variables include minimum temperature, maximum temperature, diurnal temperature range, water vapour and cloud cover. Part III deals with mineral aerosols from satellite observations. Part IV features components of the ERA40 Reanalysis Project and Part V the WCRP CMIP3 multi-model climate change data archive.

http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/~clivar/ClimateAtlas/

Richard Washington leads the development of the African Climate Atlas. The Atlas is currently maintained by Gil Lizcano who also developed Part IV (ERA40) and Part V (CMIP3 data) in conjunction with the WCRP and GEO. Part III was developed by Sebastian Engelstaedter while he was a DPhil at Oxford. Arnaud Desitter and Richard Washington set up Part 1 and Part II. Several members of the VACS Panel: Kerry Cook, Thierry Lebel, Laban Ogallo, Chris Reason and Chris Thorncroft, to name a few, have kindly advised on the project. Matthieu Rouault, from the University of Cape Town, provided useful guidance and comments early in the project.