TITLE:
Land Use and Gully Dynamics in the Kourfa Watershed, Matankari (Southwest Niger)
AUTHORS:
Bachirou Hamadou Younoussa, Tahirou Hassane Yaou, Bouba Hassane, Abass Kadade Sabou, Abdoulkader Moussa Issaka, Amadou Abdourhamane Toure, Zibo Garba
KEYWORDS:
Kourfa Pond, Dynamics, Watershed, Dosso, Niger
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.16 No.4,
August
26,
2024
ABSTRACT: The main consequences of climate change in the Sahel have been the metamorphosis of surface conditions. These metamorphoses have resulted in surface degradation, of which silting up of watersheds is the main phenomenon. The objective of this study is to assess the environmental trends of the Kourfa pond watershed. The study is based on diachronic mapping with Landsat satellite images and Google Earth images, over the period 1986 to 2021. The study reveals that vegetation (whose rate of regression doubled between 1986 and 2021) has decreased to the benefit of crop areas (whose rate of increase multiplied by 3.61 between 1986 and 2021). Bare soil and encrusted areas have also decreased, with regression rates almost double than those of 1986. In addition, the Kourfa waterholes have experienced two types of changes over 35 years: one progressive between 2011 and 2016 and the other regressive between 2001 and 2021 compared to 1986. The ravine network has been multiplied by a factor of 2.4, with density more than doubled and the connectivity of the hydrographic networks has risen from 2 to 4, with significant bank recession. This dynamic of the Kourfa pond is linked to the high drainage, the increasing complexity of the gully network and the erosion due to the retreat of the watershed banks, all of which contribute to the silting-up of the Kourfa watershed.