Drought and Floods in West Africa: Rain Determines the Vital Resources of Man

To the people living south of the Sahara, seasonal monsoon rains are of vital importance. Natural fluctuations of precipitation, however, are extremely high - years of relative abundance are followed by years of misery when the rain does not come. So far, the ability to forecast monsoon precipitation has been bad. But the international research project AMMA (African Monsoon Multi-Disciplinary Analysis) will help. In summer 2006, extensive measurement campaigns were carried out in West Africa. From November 26 to 30, 2007, the international AMMA conference will take place at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe with more than 400 participants from 50 countries. Here, first results of the campaign will be presented.

Dr. Elisabeth Zuber-Knost
Press Officer

Kaiserstraße 12
76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Phone: +49 721/608-2089
Fax: +49 721/608-3658

For details, please contact:

Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe
Public Relations and Marketing Department
Inge Arnold

Postfach 3640
76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
Phone: +49 7247 82-2861
Fax: +49 7247 82-5080
E-mail

On the first day of the conference, we invite representatives of the media to inform themselves about the objectives and results of the AMMA measurement campaign at a press conference on

Monday, November 26, 2007, 13.00 hrs
at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe
Fortbildungszentrum für Technik und Umwelt (Center for Advanced Technological and Environmental Training), Room 160
Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1
76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.

At the press conference, the following discussion partners will be available:

• Professor Dr. Christoph Kottmeier, Forschungszentrum and Universität Karlsruhe, co-spokesman of the German AMMA groups

• Professor Dr. Jean-Luc Redelsberger, coordinator of the international AMMA program

• Professor Dr. Jan Polcher, Directeur de Recherche LMD/IPSL, coordinator of the European research groups in AMMA

• Dr. habil. Andreas Fink, Universität Köln, co-spokesman of the German AMMA groups

• Dr. Hartmut Höller, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, coordinator of the AMMA-EU field measurements

A program of the conference is available on the internet www.amma-international.org. If you wish to participate in the conference, please be so kind as to indicate this on the response form enclosed.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) represents the merger of the Universität Karlsruhe with the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. Altogether, it has 8000 employees and an annual budget of 600 million Euros. In the KIT, both partners are bundling their scientific competences and capacities, establishing optimum research structures, and developing joint strategies and visions.

The KIT will be an institution of internationally excellent research and teaching in natural and engineering sciences. KIT shall attract the best experts from all over the world, set new standards in teaching and promotion of young scientists, and establish the leading European center in the field of energy research. KIT will assume a leading role in nanosciences worldwide. It is the objective of KIT to be one of the most important cooperation partners of industry.