TITLE:
Study of the Spatio-Temporal Variability of Rainfall in the Northern Region of Senegal
AUTHORS:
Aichétou Dia Diop, Abdoul Karim Mbodji, El Hadji Deme, Malick Wade, Mahamat Adoum Moussa, Abdoulaye Bouya Diop, Younousse Biaye, Djiby Sarr, Abdou Karim Farota, Aboubakary Diakhaby, Bouya Diop
KEYWORDS:
Rainfall in the Northern Region of Senegal, Variability of Rainfall, Satellite Data, The Zonal Distribution of Rainfall
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.11 No.4,
April
13,
2023
ABSTRACT: Senegal is a country of the Sahel. In this region, most of the populations
live from agro-pastoral activities. The northern zone of Senegal is strongly
influenced by river cultures. And the dynamics of the Senegal River are
dependent on rainfall. The rainfall in the area is very closely linked to the
dynamics of the atmosphere. The study of the spatio-temporal variability of
rainfall in the northern region of Senegal requires quality rainfall
observation data. It includes the Ferlo and the Senegal River valley, in
particular the regions of Louga (department
of Linguère included), Saint-Louis (departments of Dagana and Podor
included) and Matam. These stations have been defined since Le Borgne (1988). The difficulty of having quality rain observation data can be resolved
by using more accessible and good quality satellite data. Using satellite data,
namely MSWEP, CRU, TAMSAT, ARC and PERSIANN, we showed the return of
precipitation that appeared in 2000 and the unimodal cycle of precipitation in
our study area. These data were validated using the correlation coefficient,
the bias, the RMSE and the Nash index with observation data from the Regional
Study Center for the Improvement of Adaptation to Drought (CERASS). The CRU
data is then retained. Thus, this study made it possible to show the zonal distribution
of rainfall in the northern zone of Senegal.