The West African climate system: a review of the AMMA model inter-comparison initiatives

International audience; We review the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) model inter-comparison activities for West Africa. The Model Inter-comparison Project is an evaluation exercise of how global and regional atmospheric models represent seasonal and intra-seasonal variations of the climate and rainfall over the Sahel. The Land surface Model Inter-comparison Project in turn focuses on modelling critical land surface processes over West Africa and on their link with the atmosphere. The CHEmistry Model Inter-comparison Project (CHEMIP) is a comparison of the tropospheric composition as simulated by a number of Chemical Transport Models (CTM) and Chemistry-Climate Models. We highlight the main model limitations and provide recommendations for future development.