TITLE:
The Contribution of the Spatial Distribution of Rainfall for the Understanding of the Hydrological Functioning of the Upper Oum Er-Rbia Basin (Upstream Machraa Edahk)—Morocco
AUTHORS:
Nadia Lahlou, Coura Kane, El Ghachi Mohamed
KEYWORDS:
Upper Basin of Oum Er-Rbia, Rainfall Distribution, Climate Variability, Hydrological Response, Atlas Mountainous (Morocco)
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Climate Change,
Vol.13 No.4,
December
2,
2024
ABSTRACT: In recent years, climate change has emerged as one of the most pressing environmental issues globally. Morocco, like many other countries, has been significantly affected by these changes, particularly over the past decade. In this context, we aim to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall as a hydrological indicator to understand its impact on the hydrological dynamics of the upper Oum Er-Rbia basin. The Oum Er-Rbia basin is one of the largest watersheds in Morocco in terms of water resources, after the Sebou basin. Besides, the studied area covers an area of 6965 km2. The altitudes are between 2410 m and 415 m. Oum Er-Rbia river takes its source from the Middle Atlas at 2400 m altitude and crosses the Middle Atlas range, the Tadla plain. It shows diversity in relief with diverse structural forms. It is fed by several permanent and seasonal tributaries. The present study consists of analyzing the variations of rainfall events through a statistical analysis of rainfall data provided by the reference stations in the Upper Oum Erbia basin for a chronicle of (1934-2023), and spatializing the precipitation at different scales, annual and monthly, through the rainfall data, provided by 33 rainfall stations, with a chronicle of 30 years, inter-station period (1984-2013). From a methodological point of view, this study places us within a palette of concepts of spatialization that are said to be normative or traditional and are part of the set of methods existing in the field of spatialization. The main objective of this paper is to extract all the information that can inform us about the rainfall characteristics of this period, to determine the rainfall trends and to identify the spatial and temporal rainfall distributions. All this is in order to follow, understand and determine the nature of the impact of climate variability on the hydrological functioning in the upper basin of Oum Er-Rbia.