Abstract
The variations in total water storage anomaly and groundwater balance were examined during 2002–2016. Based on the empirical orthogonal function, it was found that the water resource underwent high variability. The linear trend of hydro-climatic variables, total water storage anomaly, water budget, and its components have been investigated. For the area average, all the variables increased except for the potential evapotranspiration, which had decreased during the period of study. For the spatial distribution of trends in total water storage (TWS) in the northern Sub-Saharan Africa (NSSA), 44.76% underwent significant negative changes, whereas the proportion of areas that underwent significant negative changes was 24.84%. The results indicated that the precipitation and soil moisture were determinant factors for positive changes in TWS, whereas the potential evapotranspiration and temperature contributed to the reduction in TWS, respectively, implying a harmful effect of rising in temperature on water resources over the region. Moreover, a non-significant positive interdependence between the area-averaged TWS and the water budget (WB) was acquired. Positive correlations between normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and TWS (WB) occupied 48.93% (37.86%), but negative correlations occupied 34.59% (28.49%) of the total area. Results of the relationships between TWS and NDVI were higher than that of NDVI and water budget over the period 2002–2015. The TWS and WB (water resources) played essential roles in the positive changes in the ecosystem. These findings are valuable for the management of agriculture, water resources, environment, and ecosystem, profiting from the implementation of policies at regional and local scales.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrew RL, Guan H, Batelaan O (2017) Large-scale vegetation responses to terrestrial moisture storage changes. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 21(9):4469–4478. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-4469-2017
Awange JL, Forootan E, Kuhn M, Kusche J, Heck B (2014) Water storage changes and climate variability within the Nile Basin between 2002 and 2011. Adv Water Resour 73:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2014.06.010
Bolten J et al (2012) Looking to the future: forming a comprehensive GRACE FO applications strategy. Presented at the 2012 GRACE Science Team Meeting, Potsdam, Germany
Bridget RS, Zizhan Z, Himanshu S, Alexander YS, Hannes MS, Ludovicus PHVB, David NW, Yoshihide W, Di L, Robert CR, Laurent L, Petra D, Marc FPB (2018) Global models underestimate large decadal declining and rising water storage trends relative to GRACE satellite data. PNAS 115(6):E1080–E1089. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1704665115.
Carter RC, Parker A (2009) Climate change, population trends in Africa. Hydrol Sci J 54(4):676–689. https://doi.org/10.1623/hysj.54.4.676
Carvalho R, Longuevergne T, Gurdak L, Jason J, Leblanc M, Favreau G, Aureli A (2018) Assessment of the impacts of climate variability on total water storage across Africa: implications for groundwater resources management. Hydrogeol J. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-018-1864-5
Collins JM (2011) Temperature variability over Africa. J Clim 24(14):3649–3666. https://doi.org/10.1175/2011JCLI3753.1
Cosgrove B, Walker JP, Gottschalck J, Houser PR, Mitchell K, Jambor U, Rodell M (2004) The global land data assimilation system. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 85(3):381–394. https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-85-3-381
Crowley JW, Mitrovica JX, Bailey RC, Tamisiea ME, Davis JL (2006) Land water storage within the Congo Basin inferred from GRACE satellite gravity data. Geophys Res Lett 33(19):2–5. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL027070
Deser C, Blackmon ML (1995) On the relationship between tropical and North Pacific sea surface temperature variations. J Clim 8(6):1677–1680. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1995)008%3c1677:OTRBTA%3e2.0.CO;2
Dool HVD Huang J, Fan Y (2003) Performance and Analysis of the constructed analogue method applied to US soil moisture applied over 1981–2001. J Geophys Res 108:1–16
Du J, Shu J, Yin J, Yuan X, Jiaerheng A, Xiong S, He P, Liu W (2015) Analysis on spatio-temporal trends and drivers in vegetation growth during recent decades in Xinjiang, China. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 38:216–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2015.01.006
Engel T, Fink AH, Knippertz P, Pante G, Bliefernicht J (2017) Extreme Precipitation in the West African Cities of Dakar and Ouagadougou: atmospheric Dynamics and Implications for Flood Risk Assessments. J Hydrometeorol, 18(11):2937–2957. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-16-0218.1
Erickson AJ, Gulliver JS, Hozalski RM, Mohseni O, Nieber JL, Wilson BN, Weiss PT (2010) Stormwater Treatment: assessment and Maintenance. In University of Minnesota, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory
Famiglietti JS, Rodell M (2013) Water in the balance. Sci 340(6138):1300–1301. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1236460
Feng XM, Sun G, Fu BJ, Su CH, Liu Y, Lamparski H (2012) Regional effects of vegetation restoration on water yield across the Loess Plateau. China Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 16(8):2617–2628. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2617-2012
Geruo A, Velicogna I, Kimball JS, Du J, Kim Y, Colliander A, Njoku E (2017) Satellite-observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 Texas drought. Environ Res Lett, 12(5). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6965
Gizaw MS, Gan TY (2017) Impact of climate change and El Niño episodes on droughts in sub-Saharan Africa. Clim Dyn 49(1–2):665–682. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3366-2
Guenang GM, Vondou DA, Kamga FM (2016) Total Water Storage Change in Cameroon: calculation, Variability and Link with Onset and Retreat Dates of the Rainy Season. Hydrol. 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology3040036
Guillaume F, Yahaya N, Marc L, Goni AG, Ibrahim B (2011) Groundwater resources increase in the Iullemmeden Basin, West Africa. In Climate Change Effects on Groundwater Resources: a Global Synthesis of Findings and Recommendations pp 113–128
Grippa M, Kergoat L, Frappart F, Araud Q, Boone A, De Rosnay P, Lemoine JM, Gascoin S, Balsamo G, Ottlé C, Decharme B, Saux-Picart S, Ramillien G (2011) Land water storage variability over West Africa estimated by Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and land surface models. Water Resour Res, 47(5):1–18. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009WR008856
Hannachi A (2004) A primer for EOF analysis of climate data. Reading: University of Reading, 1–33. http://www.o3d.org/eas-6490/lectures/EOFs/eofprimer.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2021
Harris I, Jones PD, Osborn TJ, Lister DH (2014) Updated high-resolution grids of monthly climatic observations - the CRU TS3.10 Dataset. Int J Climatol, 34(3), 623–642. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.3711
Humphrey V, Gudmundsson L, Seneviratne SI (2016) Assessing Global Water Storage Variability from GRACE: trends, Seasonal Cycle, Subseasonal Anomalies and Extremes. Surv Geophys, 37(2), 357–395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-016-9367-1
Huntington TG (2006) Evidence for intensification of the global water cycle: Review and synthesis. J Hydrol, 319(1– 4), 83–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.07.003
IRIN. (2013) Preparing for floods in West Africa. In The New Humanitarian: Environment and Disasters. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2013/06/14/preparing-floods-west-africa
Jiang L, Jiapaer G, Bao A, Guo H, Ndayisaba F (2017) Vegetation dynamics and responses to climate change and human activities in Central Asia. Sci Total Environ 599–600:967–980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.012
Jonah K, Wen W, Shahid S, Ali MA, Bilal M, Habtemicheal BA, Iyakaremye V, Qiu Z, Almazroui M, Wang Y, Joseph SN, Tiwari P (2021) Spatiotemporal variability of rainfall trends and influencing factors in Rwanda. J Atmos Solar-Terrestrial Phys 219:105631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2021.105631
Khawaja M (2012) Drought in Sub-Saharan Africa puts millions of lives at risk. Arabian Gazette. https://arabiangazette.com/sub-saharan-drought-risk/
Kuss A, Brandt W T, Randall J, Floyd B, Bourai A, Newcomer M, Schmidt C, Skiles JW (2012) Comparison of changes in groundwater storage using GRACE data and a hyrdological model in California’s central Valley. ASPRS 2012 Annu Conf, PP 1–12 .
Landerer FW, Swenson SC (2012) Accuracy of scaled GRACE terrestrial water storage estimates. Water Resources Research, 48(4):1–11.https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR011453
Long D, Yang YT, Guan HD, Scanlon BR, Simmons CT, Jiang L, Xu X (2017) GRACE satellite observed hydrological controls on interannual and seasonal variability in surface greenness over mainland Australia. J Geophys Res Biogeosciences, 119: 2245–2260
Lv M, Ma Z, Li M, Zheng Z (2019) Quantitative analysis of terrestrial water storage changes under the Grain for Green program in the Yellow River basin. Geophys Res Atmos 124:1336–1351. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029113
Maidment RI, Allan RP, Black E (2015) Recent Observed and Simulated Changes in Precipitation over Africa. Geophys Res Lett, 42, 8155-8164. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL065765.
Marshall M, Funk C, Michaelsen J (2012) Examining evapotranspiration trends in Africa. Clim Dyn 38(9–10):1849–1865. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1299-y
Milly PCD, Dunne KA, Vecchia AV (2005) Global pattern of trends in streamflow and water availability in a changing climate. Nature 438(7066):347–350. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04312
NASA (2019) Precipitation measurement missions. Retrieved from https://pmm.nasa.gov/science/climate-change. Accessed 20 June 2021
Ndehedehe CE, Awange J, Agutu NO, Kuhn M, Heck B (2016a) Advances in water resources understanding changes in terrestrial water storage over West Africa between 2002 and 2014. Adv Water Resour 88:211–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.12.009
Ndehedehe CE, Agutu NO, Okwuashi O, Ferreira VG (2016b) Spatio-temporal variability of droughts and terrestrial water storage over Lake Chad Basin using independent component analysis. J Hydrol 540:106–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.05.068
Ndehedehe CE, Awange JL, Kuhn M, Agutu NO, Fukuda Y (2017) Climate teleconnections influence on West Africa’s terrestrial water storage. Hydrol Process 31(18):3206–3224. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11237
Ogou KF, Ma Z, Yang Q, Kpaikpai B (2017) Comparison of trends and frequencies of drought in central North China and sub-Saharan Africa from 1901 to 2010. Atmos Ocean Sci Lett 10(6):418–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/16742834.2017.1392825
Ogwang BA, Chen H, Tan G, Ongoma V, Ntwali D (2015) Diagnosis of East African climate and the circulation mechanisms associated with extreme wet and dry events: a study based on RegCM4. Arab J Geosci 8(12):10255–10265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-015-1949-6
Petheram C, Walker G, Grayson R, Thierfelder T, Zhang L (2002) Towards a framework for predicting impacts of land-use on recharge: 1, a review of recharge studies in Australia. Aust J Soil Res 40(3):397–417
Piao S, Friedlingstein P, Ciais P, de Noblet-Ducoudré N, Labat D, Zaehle S (2007) Changes in climate and land use have a larger direct impact than rising CO2 on global river runoff trends. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104(39):15242–15247. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0707213104
Pinzon JE, Tucker CJ (2014) A non-stationary 1981–2012 AVHRR NDVI3g time series. Remote Sens 6(8):6929–6960. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6086929
Reager JT, Famiglietti JS (2009) Global terrestrial water storage capacity and flood potential using GRACE. Geophys Res Lett 36(23):2–7. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL040826
Thomas AC, Reager JT, Famiglietti JS, Rodell M (2014) A GRACE-based water storage deficit approach for hydrological drought characterization. Geophys Res Lett 41(5):1537–1545. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL059323
Tom TH, Alison HP, Weatherhead EK (2012) Testing a rapid climate change adaptation assessment for water and sanitation providers in informal settlements in three cities in sub-Saharan Africa. Environ Urbaization 24(2):619–637. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247812453540
Xie X, He B, Guo L, Miao C, Zhang Y (2019) Detecting hotspots of interactions between vegetation greenness and terrestrial water storage using satellite observations. Remote Sens Environ 231:111259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111259
Xuening MA, Mingjun Z, Yaju LI, Shengjie W, Qian MA, Wenli LIU (2012) Decreasing potentialevapotranspiration in the Huanghe River Watershed in climate warming during 1960–2010. J Geogr Sci 22(6):977–988. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-012-0977-3
Yang YT, Long D, Guan HD, Scanlon BR, Simmons CT, Jiang L, Xu X (2014) GRACE satellite observed hydrological controls on interannual and seasonal variability in surface greenness over mainland Australia. J Geophys Res Biogeosciences 119:2245–2260
Yang Z, Zhang Q, Hao X (2016) Evapotranspiration trend and its relationship with precipitation over the loess plateau during the last three decades. Adv Meteorol. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/6809749
Zhang X, Wu S, Yan X, Chen Z (2017) A global classification of vegetation based on NDVI, rainfall and temperature. Int J Climatol 37(5):2318–2324. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4847
Zhao C, Li X, Zhou X, Zhao K, Yang Q (2016) Holocene vegetation succession and response to climate changeon the south bank of the heilongjiang-amur river, mohe county, northeast China. Adv Meteorol. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/2450697
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the CAS-TWAS program under which we have acquired more knowledges in the field of earth sciences. We thank Professor Zhugguo Ma and the associate professor Francois Cossi Guedje for their advices during our Ph.D. program and after the Ph.D, respectively. We are grateful for the data providers for free without which the present work won’t be possible. Our special thanks to the anonymous reviewers and editors for their helpful comments for improvement of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
The design, methodology and first draft of the present manuscript are worked out by FKO. It is revised by VNO, EN and CIM.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ogou, F.K., Ojeh, V.N., Naabil, E. et al. Hydro-climatic and Water Availability Changes and its Relationship with NDVI in Northern Sub-Saharan Africa. Earth Syst Environ 6, 681–696 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-021-00260-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-021-00260-3