Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Comparison of the spatiotemporal variability of rainfall from four different interpolation methods and impact on the result of GR2M hydrological modeling—case of Bani River in Mali, West Africa

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The climatic evolution of the Bani river watershed, the main tributary to the upper Niger River, is approached through the spatiotemporal variability of rainfall grids over the 1950–2006 period. The analyses are conducted, and their results compared, using four different methods of spatial interpolation of rainfall fields: the spline, kriging, weighted inverse distance, and nearest neighbor methods. The largest changes are observed for all of these grids, but differences—and in some cases divergent results—appear in the details. The analysis shows a substantial decline in rainfall, particularly marked in the center of the basin, during the 1970–2000 period with respect to the 1950–1969 period, and a slight upturn in the northern part, mainly since the beginning of the 1990s. The rainfall deficit can be attributed to a combination of factors: an earlier and drier end of the rainy season, less precipitation in the middle of the rainy season, more dry days and lower amounts of precipitation on rainy days. Two drought indices—the Effective Drought Index and Standardized Precipitation Index—revealed that the maximum duration of drought events increased most in the central part of the basin. Lastly, to supplement this comparison of methods of spatial interpolation of rainfall fields, the sensitivity of a hydrological model (GR2M) to rainfall data was tested. Given the distribution and density of rain gauge stations available in the Bani watershed, the kriging method is found to yield the best hydrological modeling performance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ali A, Lebel T, Amani A (2008) Signification et usage de l'indice pluviométrique au Sahel. Sécheresse 19:227–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Bamba F, Diabaté M, Mahé G, Diarra M (1997) Bilans hydrologiques pour des affluents majeurs du fleuve Niger: le Bani, le Sankarani, le Tinkisso et le Milo. Doc Tech Hydrol l'UNESCO 16:65–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Billen G, Garnier J, Hanset P (1994) Modelling phytoplankton development in whole drainage network: the RIVERSTRAHLER model applied to the Seine river system. Hydrobiologia 289:119–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyer JF, Dieulin C, Rouché N, Crès A, Servat E, Paturel JE, Mahé G (2006) SIEREM: an environmental information system for water resources. In: Water resource variability: processes, analyses and impacts. IAHS, 308, pp 19-25.

  • Briggs IC (1974) Machine contouring using minimum curvature. Geophysics 39:39–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byun HR, Wilhite DA (1999) Objective quantification of drought severity and duration. J Clim 12:2747–2756

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conway D (1997) A water balance model of the Upper Blue Nile in Ethiopia. Hydrol Sci J 42:841–859

    Google Scholar 

  • Conway D, Mahe G (2009) Riverflow modelling in two large river basins: the Parana (subtropical) and the Niger (tropical). Hydrol Process 23:3186–3192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cressie NA (1990) The origins of kriging. Math Geol 22:239–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis JC (1986) Statistics and data analysis in geology. Wiley, New-York, 656p

    Google Scholar 

  • Folland CK, Palmer TN, Parker DE (1986) Sahel rainfall and worldwide sea temperature. Nature 320:602–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franke R (1982) Scattered data interpolation: test of some methods. Math Comput 33:181–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Janicot S, Fontaine B (1993) L'évolution des idées sur la variabilité interannuelle récente des précipitations en Afrique de l'Ouest. Météorol 8:28–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasei R, Diekkrüger B, Leemhuis C (2009) Drought frequency in the Volta Basin of West Africa. Sustain Sci 5:89–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laux P, Wagne S, Wagner A, Jacobeit J, Bardossy A, Kunstmann H (2009) Modelling daily precipitation features in the Volta Basin of West Africa. Int J Climatol 29:937–954

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Barbé L, Lebel T, Tapsoba D (2002) Rainfall variability in West Africa during the years 1950–90. J Clim 15:187–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd-Hughes B, Saunders MA (2002) A drought climatology for Europe. Int J Climatol 22:1571–1592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louvet S, Fontaine B, Roucou P (2003) Active phases and pauses during the installation of the West African monsoon through 5-day CMAP rainfall data (1979–2001). Geophys Res Lett 30:2271–2275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahé G (2009) Surface/groundwater relationships in two great river basins in West Africa, Niger and Volta. Hydrol Sci J 54:704–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahé G, Olivry JC (1999) Assessment of freshwater yields to the ocean along the intertropical Atlantic coast of Africa. C R Acad Sci 328:621–626

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahé G, Paturel JE (2009) 1896–2006 Sahelian annual rainfall variability and runoff increase of Sahelian Rivers. Compt Rendus Geosci 341:538–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahé G, Olivry JC, Dessouassi R, Orange D, Bamba F, Servat E (2000) Relations eaux de surface-eaux souterraines d’une rivière tropicale au Mali. C R Acad Sci 330:689–692

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahé G, L’Hote Y, Olivry JC, Wotling G (2001) Trends and discontinuities in regional rainfall of West and Central Africa: 1951–1989. Hydrol Sci 46:211–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahe G, Girard S, New M, Paturel JE, Cres A, Dezetter A, Dieulin C, Boyer JF, Rouche N, Servat E (2008) Comparing available rainfall gridded datasets for West Africa and the impact on rainfall-runoff modelling results, the case of Burkina-Faso. Water SA 34:529–536

    Google Scholar 

  • Makhlouf Z, Michel C (1994) A two-parameter monthly water balance model for French watersheds. J Hydrol 162:299–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mc Kee TB, Doesken NJ, Kleist J (1993) The relationship of drought frequency and duration to time scale. Rep Eighth Conf Appl Climatol 6

  • Nash JE, Sutcliffe JV (1970) River flow forecasting through conceptual models, a discussion of principles. J Hydrol 10:282–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson S, Palao I (1993) A re-evaluation of rainfall variability in the Sahel. Part 1. Characteristics of rainfall fluctuations. Int J Climatol 13:371–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettitt AN (1979) A non-parametric approach to the change-point problem. Appl Stat 28:126–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redelsperger JL, Thorncroft CD, Diedhiou A, Lebel T, Parker DJ, Polcher J (2006) African monsoon multidisciplinary analysis—an international research project and field campaign. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 87:1739–1746

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rouault M, Richard Y (2003) Intensity and spatial extension of drought in South Africa at different time scales. Water SA 29:489–500

    Google Scholar 

  • Roudier P, Mahé G (2009) Study of water stress and droughts with indicators using daily data on the Bani river (Niger basin, Mali). Int J Climatol 30(11):1689–1705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruelland D, Ardoin-Bardin S, Billen G, Servat E (2008) Sensitivity of a lumped and semi-distributed hydrological model to several modes of rainfall interpolation on a large basin in West Africa. J Hydrol 361:96–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Servat E, Paturel JE, Kouame B, Travaglio M, Ouedraogo M, Boyer JF, Lubes-Niel H, Fritsch JM, Masson JM, Marieu B (1998) Identification, characterization and consequences of an hydrological variability in western and central Africa. Water resources variability in Africa during the XXth century. Int Conf 252:323–337

    Google Scholar 

  • Sultan B, Janicot S (2003) The West African monsoon dynamics. Part II: The "Preonset" and the "Onset" of the summer Monsoon. J Clim 16:3407–3427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vörösmarty CJ, Douglas EM, Green PA, Revenga C (2005) Geospatial indicators of emerging water stress: an application to Africa. AMBIO 34:230–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research for this paper was conducted as part of the RESSAC research project, which received funding from the French National Research Agency (ANR) under a call for research projects entitled “Vulnerability: Environments and Climate” in 2006. We also thank the field personnel and data management organizations who made their data available to us. Without them, no scientific research would be possible.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecoclimasol, Paris, France

    S. Louvet

  2. UMR HydroSciences Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    J. E. Paturel, G. Mahé & N. Rouché

  3. DNM Bamako, Mali, Africa

    M. Koité

Authors
  1. S. Louvet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. E. Paturel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G. Mahé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. N. Rouché
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M. Koité
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Louvet.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Louvet, S., Paturel, J.E., Mahé, G. et al. Comparison of the spatiotemporal variability of rainfall from four different interpolation methods and impact on the result of GR2M hydrological modeling—case of Bani River in Mali, West Africa. Theor Appl Climatol 123, 303–319 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1357-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1357-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation