As a perfect example of Water-Energy-Food nexus, photovoltaic-powered irrigation is a suitable sy... more As a perfect example of Water-Energy-Food nexus, photovoltaic-powered irrigation is a suitable system for farmers of the semi-arid countries of Sahel. This system can be one of the excellent ways to achieve some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) regarding food access, water access and energy access. Mastering the installation, configuration and operation of the solar PV water pumping system regarding the environmental conditions is crucial for resource-saving and efficient use. This study's main objective is to evaluate the efficiency of a direct-coupled photovoltaic water pumping system (PVWPS) through the case study of the most common and demonstrator system installed in a rural area. The equipment has been installed within the CIREG (Climate Information for Integrated Renewable Electricity Generation) project as a demonstrator site at Bonkoukou in Niger (West Africa). The PVWPS efficiency assessment demonstrated that the PV array has been oversized twice. The inc...
Water scarcity for smallholder farming in West Africa has led to the shift of cultivation from up... more Water scarcity for smallholder farming in West Africa has led to the shift of cultivation from uplands to inland valleys. This study investigates the impacts of climate and land use/land cover (LULC) change on water resources in an intensively instrumented inland valley catchment in Southwestern Burkina Faso. An ensemble of five regional climate models (RCMs) and two climate scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) was utilized to drive a physically-based hydrological model WaSiM after calibration and validation. The impact of climate change was quantified by comparing the projected period (2021–2050) and a reference period (1971–2000). The result showed a large uncertainty in the future change of runoff between the RCMs. Three models projected an increase in the total runoff from +12% to +95%, whereas two models predicted a decrease from −44% to −24%. Surface runoff was projected to show the highest relative change compared to the other runoff components. The projected LULC 2019, 2025, and ...
With irrigation occupying less than 1% of all croplands, agricultural production in West Africa c... more With irrigation occupying less than 1% of all croplands, agricultural production in West Africa can potentially severely impacted by changes in precipitation. We identified a number of precipitation characteristics that impact crop yields and analyze mid 21st century changes in these characteristics over croplands in West Africa using a multi model ensemble of 16 RCM/GCM combinations providing data for the CORDEX Africa domain. Besides long term mean values, we analyze interannual variability of these precipitation characteristics. Despite a moderate increase ( 3%) in total rainy season precipitation in the ensemble mean prediction, we find other characteristics that could potentially have detrimental effects on crop yields. A robust and consistent delay in the onset of the rainy season (1 to 4 days from South to North), with no apparent change in the cessation of the rainy season, leads to a general shortening of the rainy season. Rainfall intensity generally increases with a sligh...
This study investigates the robustness of the physically-based hydrological model WaSiM (water ba... more This study investigates the robustness of the physically-based hydrological model WaSiM (water balance and flow simulation model) for simulating hydrological processes in two data sparse small-scale inland valley catchments (Bankandi-Loffing and Mebar) in Burkina Faso. An intensive instrumentation with two weather stations, three rain recorders, 43 piezometers, and one soil moisture station was part of the general effort to reduce the scarcity of hydrological data in West Africa. The data allowed us to successfully parameterize, calibrate (2014–2015), and validate (2016) WaSiM for the Bankandi-Loffing catchment. Good model performance concerning discharge in the calibration period (R2 = 0.91, NSE = 0.88, and KGE = 0.82) and validation period (R2 = 0.82, NSE = 0.77, and KGE = 0.57) was obtained. The soil moisture (R2 = 0.7, NSE = 0.7, and KGE = 0.8) and the groundwater table (R2 = 0.3, NSE = 0.2, and KGE = 0.5) were well simulated, although not explicitly calibrated. The spatial tran...
Burkina Faso is facing tremendous challenges for its water and agricultural sector considering te... more Burkina Faso is facing tremendous challenges for its water and agricultural sector considering temperature and floods which increased during the previous decades and given IPCC climate projections for West Africa. Addressing the lack of knowledge on climate trends at local scale, this paper assesses trends in rainfall as well as means Temperature (Tmean) from 1971 to 2050 in the Massili basin. Hence, a 50 years record (1961-2011) from Gonse station as well as data from four Regional Climate Models (MPI-M-MPI-ESM-LR, CCCma-CanESM2, AFR 44 and AFR MPI) was analyzed. The model data were extracted from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) data and included historical runs (1971-2005) and two representative concentration pathways scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) for the period 2006-2050, all at 50*50 km² spatial resolution. The analysis of the simulation data and their comparison with the observed record indicate that only AFR 44 reproduce well the climate trend ...
Il est clairement reconnu que toutes les régions d’Afrique de l’Ouest et d’Afrique Centrale, sèch... more Il est clairement reconnu que toutes les régions d’Afrique de l’Ouest et d’Afrique Centrale, sèches comme humides, ont été touchées par une diminution de la pluviométrie annuelle autour des années 1970. Mais au cours du XXème siècle, d’autres événements climatiques sont survenus. A partir de données de pluie, nous avons souhaité mettre en évidence les alternances pluviométriques qu’a pu connaître l’Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale au cours du XXème siècle. Pour cela, nous nous sommes appuyés sur des outils d’analyse statistiques de séries chronologiques. Il apparaît que ces alternances de périodes sèches et humides ont eu une ampleur spatiale et temporelle ainsi qu’une intensité très variable. Au nord de l’équateur, les changements climatiques les plus nets sont des sécheresses alors qu’au sud de l’équateur, ce sont des épisodes plus humides. Au cours de la première moitié du siècle, les modifications ont eu tendance à correspondre à une augmentation de la pluviométrie annuelle alors ...
Many studies have been undertaken on climate variability in West Africa since the drastic drought... more Many studies have been undertaken on climate variability in West Africa since the drastic drought of 1970s. These studies rely in many cases on different baseline periods chosen with regard to the reference periods defined by the World Meteorological Organization. A method is developed in this study to determine a stationary baseline period for rainfall variability analysis. The method is based on an application of three statistic tests (on deviation and trend) and a test of shifts detection in rainfall time series. The application of this method on six different gridded rainfall data and observations from 1901 to 2018 shows that the 1917–1946 period is the longest stationary period. An assessment of the significance of the difference between the mean annual rainfall amount during this baseline period and the annual rainfall amount during the other years shows that the “Normal” annual rainfall amount is defined by an interval delineated by ±the standard deviation (STD). With regard ...
The Sahel is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in the world. Located in the ce... more The Sahel is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in the world. Located in the central part, Niger is facing many complex and interconnected challenges which strongly hinder the achievement of the key sustainable development goals (SDGs). The high population growth rate (3.8% per year), weak infrastructure capacity, shortage of essential resources (including water, energy, food) coupled with the adverse impacts of variability and climate change threaten the population and reduce the country's economic growth efforts. With more than 77% of landmass area receiving less than 150 mm of precipitation yearly, and about 80% of the population depending on rainfed agriculture, water scarcity and dryness constitute serious constraints for the agriculture and livestock sectors. In addition, the unequal distribution of agricultural land and livestock worsens the poverty incidence among households, which is characterized by a GINI coefficient of 0.46 and 0.68 for land and liv...
As a perfect example of Water-Energy-Food nexus, photovoltaic-powered irrigation is a suitable sy... more As a perfect example of Water-Energy-Food nexus, photovoltaic-powered irrigation is a suitable system for farmers of the semi-arid countries of Sahel. This system can be one of the excellent ways to achieve some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) regarding food access, water access and energy access. Mastering the installation, configuration and operation of the solar PV water pumping system regarding the environmental conditions is crucial for resource-saving and efficient use. This study's main objective is to evaluate the efficiency of a direct-coupled photovoltaic water pumping system (PVWPS) through the case study of the most common and demonstrator system installed in a rural area. The equipment has been installed within the CIREG (Climate Information for Integrated Renewable Electricity Generation) project as a demonstrator site at Bonkoukou in Niger (West Africa). The PVWPS efficiency assessment demonstrated that the PV array has been oversized twice. The inc...
Water scarcity for smallholder farming in West Africa has led to the shift of cultivation from up... more Water scarcity for smallholder farming in West Africa has led to the shift of cultivation from uplands to inland valleys. This study investigates the impacts of climate and land use/land cover (LULC) change on water resources in an intensively instrumented inland valley catchment in Southwestern Burkina Faso. An ensemble of five regional climate models (RCMs) and two climate scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) was utilized to drive a physically-based hydrological model WaSiM after calibration and validation. The impact of climate change was quantified by comparing the projected period (2021–2050) and a reference period (1971–2000). The result showed a large uncertainty in the future change of runoff between the RCMs. Three models projected an increase in the total runoff from +12% to +95%, whereas two models predicted a decrease from −44% to −24%. Surface runoff was projected to show the highest relative change compared to the other runoff components. The projected LULC 2019, 2025, and ...
With irrigation occupying less than 1% of all croplands, agricultural production in West Africa c... more With irrigation occupying less than 1% of all croplands, agricultural production in West Africa can potentially severely impacted by changes in precipitation. We identified a number of precipitation characteristics that impact crop yields and analyze mid 21st century changes in these characteristics over croplands in West Africa using a multi model ensemble of 16 RCM/GCM combinations providing data for the CORDEX Africa domain. Besides long term mean values, we analyze interannual variability of these precipitation characteristics. Despite a moderate increase ( 3%) in total rainy season precipitation in the ensemble mean prediction, we find other characteristics that could potentially have detrimental effects on crop yields. A robust and consistent delay in the onset of the rainy season (1 to 4 days from South to North), with no apparent change in the cessation of the rainy season, leads to a general shortening of the rainy season. Rainfall intensity generally increases with a sligh...
This study investigates the robustness of the physically-based hydrological model WaSiM (water ba... more This study investigates the robustness of the physically-based hydrological model WaSiM (water balance and flow simulation model) for simulating hydrological processes in two data sparse small-scale inland valley catchments (Bankandi-Loffing and Mebar) in Burkina Faso. An intensive instrumentation with two weather stations, three rain recorders, 43 piezometers, and one soil moisture station was part of the general effort to reduce the scarcity of hydrological data in West Africa. The data allowed us to successfully parameterize, calibrate (2014–2015), and validate (2016) WaSiM for the Bankandi-Loffing catchment. Good model performance concerning discharge in the calibration period (R2 = 0.91, NSE = 0.88, and KGE = 0.82) and validation period (R2 = 0.82, NSE = 0.77, and KGE = 0.57) was obtained. The soil moisture (R2 = 0.7, NSE = 0.7, and KGE = 0.8) and the groundwater table (R2 = 0.3, NSE = 0.2, and KGE = 0.5) were well simulated, although not explicitly calibrated. The spatial tran...
Burkina Faso is facing tremendous challenges for its water and agricultural sector considering te... more Burkina Faso is facing tremendous challenges for its water and agricultural sector considering temperature and floods which increased during the previous decades and given IPCC climate projections for West Africa. Addressing the lack of knowledge on climate trends at local scale, this paper assesses trends in rainfall as well as means Temperature (Tmean) from 1971 to 2050 in the Massili basin. Hence, a 50 years record (1961-2011) from Gonse station as well as data from four Regional Climate Models (MPI-M-MPI-ESM-LR, CCCma-CanESM2, AFR 44 and AFR MPI) was analyzed. The model data were extracted from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) data and included historical runs (1971-2005) and two representative concentration pathways scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) for the period 2006-2050, all at 50*50 km² spatial resolution. The analysis of the simulation data and their comparison with the observed record indicate that only AFR 44 reproduce well the climate trend ...
Il est clairement reconnu que toutes les régions d’Afrique de l’Ouest et d’Afrique Centrale, sèch... more Il est clairement reconnu que toutes les régions d’Afrique de l’Ouest et d’Afrique Centrale, sèches comme humides, ont été touchées par une diminution de la pluviométrie annuelle autour des années 1970. Mais au cours du XXème siècle, d’autres événements climatiques sont survenus. A partir de données de pluie, nous avons souhaité mettre en évidence les alternances pluviométriques qu’a pu connaître l’Afrique de l’Ouest et Centrale au cours du XXème siècle. Pour cela, nous nous sommes appuyés sur des outils d’analyse statistiques de séries chronologiques. Il apparaît que ces alternances de périodes sèches et humides ont eu une ampleur spatiale et temporelle ainsi qu’une intensité très variable. Au nord de l’équateur, les changements climatiques les plus nets sont des sécheresses alors qu’au sud de l’équateur, ce sont des épisodes plus humides. Au cours de la première moitié du siècle, les modifications ont eu tendance à correspondre à une augmentation de la pluviométrie annuelle alors ...
Many studies have been undertaken on climate variability in West Africa since the drastic drought... more Many studies have been undertaken on climate variability in West Africa since the drastic drought of 1970s. These studies rely in many cases on different baseline periods chosen with regard to the reference periods defined by the World Meteorological Organization. A method is developed in this study to determine a stationary baseline period for rainfall variability analysis. The method is based on an application of three statistic tests (on deviation and trend) and a test of shifts detection in rainfall time series. The application of this method on six different gridded rainfall data and observations from 1901 to 2018 shows that the 1917–1946 period is the longest stationary period. An assessment of the significance of the difference between the mean annual rainfall amount during this baseline period and the annual rainfall amount during the other years shows that the “Normal” annual rainfall amount is defined by an interval delineated by ±the standard deviation (STD). With regard ...
The Sahel is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in the world. Located in the ce... more The Sahel is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in the world. Located in the central part, Niger is facing many complex and interconnected challenges which strongly hinder the achievement of the key sustainable development goals (SDGs). The high population growth rate (3.8% per year), weak infrastructure capacity, shortage of essential resources (including water, energy, food) coupled with the adverse impacts of variability and climate change threaten the population and reduce the country's economic growth efforts. With more than 77% of landmass area receiving less than 150 mm of precipitation yearly, and about 80% of the population depending on rainfed agriculture, water scarcity and dryness constitute serious constraints for the agriculture and livestock sectors. In addition, the unequal distribution of agricultural land and livestock worsens the poverty incidence among households, which is characterized by a GINI coefficient of 0.46 and 0.68 for land and liv...
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