The Kalahari is warming at over twice the global rate, with climate projections indicating a gradual drying of the Kalahari in the future.
These trends present a profound threat to communities who have lived there for millennia and endanger unique desert ecosystems. A key climate feature responsible for these trends in models is known as the Kalahari Heat Low.
The Kalahari Heat Low is a low pressure system driven by intense surface heating over the desert. The strengthening of the heat low is associated with future drying trends and amplified rates of warming. However, much of what we know about the heat low is based on untested model simulation alone.
The major aim of KAPEX was to retrieve the first detailed observations of the Kalahari Heat Low, through multiple measurement platforms, including: radiosondes, automatic weather stations, a LiDAR system, and a research aircraft. The project was based in the Northern Cape region of South Africa, at the southwest corner of Kalahari Desert. The observational effort was supported by simulations from high-resolution (4 km) model runs from the UK Met Office Unified model.
KAPEX is supported by the Gilchrist Fieldwork Award (administered by the Royal Geographical Society) and the University of Oxford’s John Fell Fund.
KAPEX 