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ATLANTA—Geosciences Associate Professor Jeremy Diem has received a three-year $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Geography and Spatial Sciences Program to explore how Congo moisture affects rainfall and decision making in western Uganda.
Diem and his research group are using satellite observations and interviews with farmers to better understand rainfall dynamics in the region.
“These farmers practice rainfed agriculture,” said Diem. “They rely on daily rainfall, as opposed to having the luxury of storing water and employing irrigation, and are thus keen observers of weather. The farmers know a lot about how the rainfall changes from season to season and will hopefully be able to provide us with information that can help us determine the moisture sources of the rainfall.”
The researchers hope their findings allow them to dig deeper into the role Congo moisture plays in East Africa and the impact that moisture has on the livelihoods and decision making of farmers.
“There is currently a widespread assumption that East Africa receives most to all of its moisture from the Indian Ocean, but it is possible that the Congo Rainforest is also a major source of moisture for parts of East Africa,” said Diem. “Western Uganda is the closest part of East Africa to the Congo rainforest, which is a huge moisture source resulting from massive amounts of evapotranspiration, so western Uganda should be one of the ‘first stops’ in East Africa for Congo moisture” said Diem.
Through rainwater collection – and subsequent isotope analyses – along with atmospheric modeling, the researchers plan to determine the origin of moisture in the region.
“If the Congo Rainforest is in fact desiccating, as some researchers have suggested, and Congo moisture is a significant contributor to rainfall in East Africa, then more frequent and severe droughts in the region might be expected,” said Diem.
Diem is working alongside Bronwen Konecky of Washington University, Joel Hartter and Jonathan Salerno of the University of Colorado and Michael Palace of the University New Hampshire on this research.
Jeremy Diem
Associate Professor
Geosciences
Dr. Jeremy Diem is an associate professor in the Geosciences Department at Georgia State University. His research focuses primarily on climatology, with an emphasis on precipitation variability in the Southeastern United States, rainfall in the Albertine Rift region of Africa and urban effects on rainfall and temperature.