The Dahra field site in Senegal, West Africa, was established in 2002 to monitor ecosystem properties of semiarid savanna grassland and their responses to climatic and environmental change. This article describes the environment and the ecosystem properties of the site using a unique set of in situ data. The studied variables include hydroclimatic variables, species composition, albedo, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), hyperspectral characteristics (350-1800 nm), surface reflectance anisotropy, brightness temperature, fraction of absorbed photosynthetic active radiation (FAPAR), biomass, vegetation water content, and land-atmosphere exchanges of carbon (NEE) and energy. The Dahra field site experiences a typical Sahelian climate and is covered by coexisting trees (~3% canopy cover) and grass species, characterizing large parts of the Sahel. This makes the site suitable for investigating relationships between ecosystem properties and hydroclimatic variables for semiarid savanna ecosystems of the region. There were strong interannual, seasonal and diurnal dynamics in NEE, with high values of ~-7.5 g C m(-2)  day(-1) during the peak of the growing season. We found neither browning nor greening NDVI trends from 2002 to 2012. Interannual variation in species composition was strongly related to rainfall distribution. NDVI and FAPAR were strongly related to species composition, especially for years dominated by the species Zornia glochidiata. This influence was not observed in interannual variation in biomass and vegetation productivity, thus challenging dryland productivity models based on remote sensing. Surface reflectance anisotropy (350-1800 nm) at the peak of the growing season varied strongly depending on wavelength and viewing angle thereby having implications for the design of remotely sensed spectral vegetation indices covering different wavelength regions. The presented time series of in situ data have great potential for dryland dynamics studies, global climate change related research and evaluation and parameterization of remote sensing products and dynamic vegetation models.

The main aim of this paper is to study land-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide (CO 2) for semi-arid savanna ecosystems of the Sahel region and its response to climatic and environmental change. A subsidiary aim is to study and quantify the seasonal dynamics in light use efficiency (e) being a key variable in scaling carbon fluxes from ground observations using earth observation data. The net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (NEE) 2010-2013 was measured using the eddy covariance technique at a grazed semi-arid savanna site in Senegal, West Africa. Night-time NEE was not related to temperature, confirming that care should be taken before applying temperature response curves for hot dry semi-arid regions when partitioning NEE into gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (R eco). Partitioning was instead done using light response curves. The values of e ranged between 0.02 g carbon (C) MJ À1 for the dry season and 2.27 g C MJ À1 for the peak of the rainy season, and its seasonal dynamics was governed by vegetation phenology, photosynthetically active radiation, soil moisture and vapor pressure deficit (VPD). The CO 2 exchange fluxes were very high in comparison to other semi-arid savanna sites; half-hourly GPP and R eco peaked at À43 mmol CO 2 m À2 s À1 and 20 mmol CO 2 m À2 s À1 , and daily GPP and R eco peaked at À15 g C m À2 and 12 g C m À2 , respectively. Possible explanations for the high CO 2 fluxes are a high fraction of C4 species, alleviated water stress conditions, and a strong grazing pressure that results in compensatory growth and fertilization effects. We also conclude that vegetation phenology, soil moisture, radiation, VPD and temperature were major components in determining the seasonal dynamics of CO 2 fluxes. Despite the height of the peak of the growing season CO 2 fluxes, the annual C budget (average NEE: À271 g C m À2) were similar to that in other semi-arid ecosystems because the short rainy season resulted in a short growing season. Global circulation models project a decrease in rainfall, an increase in temperature and a shorter growing season for the western Sahel region, and the productivity and the sink function of this semi-arid ecosystem may thus be lower in the future. 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Core Ideas AMMA‐CATCH is a long‐term critical zone observatory in West Africa. Four sites sample the sharp ecoclimatic gradient characteristic of this region. Combined measurements of meteorology, water, and vegetation dynamics began in 1990. Intensification of rainfall and hydrological cycles is observed. The strong overall re‐greening may hide contrasted changes. West Africa is a region in fast transition from climate, demography, and land use perspectives. In this context, the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA)–Couplage de l'Atmosphère Tropicale et du Cycle eco‐Hydrologique (CATCH) long‐term regional observatory was developed to monitor the impacts of global change on the critical zone of West Africa and to better understand its current and future dynamics. The observatory is organized into three thematic axes, which drive the observation and instrumentation strategy: (i) analyze the long‐term evolution of eco‐hydrosystems from a regional perspective; (ii) better understand critical zone processes and their variability; and (iii) meet socioeconomic and development needs. To achieve these goals, the observatory has gathered data since 1990 from four densely instrumented mesoscale sites (∼104 km2 each), located at different latitudes (Benin, Niger, Mali, and Senegal) so as to sample the sharp eco‐climatic gradient that is characteristic of the region. Simultaneous monitoring of the vegetation cover and of various components of the water balance at these four sites has provided new insights into the seemingly paradoxical eco‐hydrological changes observed in the Sahel during the last decades: groundwater recharge and/or runoff intensification despite rainfall deficit and subsequent re‐greening with still increasing runoff. Hydrological processes and the role of certain key landscape features are highlighted, as well as the importance of an appropriate description of soil and subsoil characteristics. Applications of these scientific results for sustainable development issues are proposed. Finally, detecting and attributing eco‐hydrological changes and identifying possible regime shifts in the hydrologic cycle are the next challenges that need to be faced.

b department of physical Geography and ecosystem science, lund university, lund, sweden; c laboratoire d'enseignement et de recherche en Géomatique, ecole supérieure polytechnique, université Cheikh anta diop de dakar, dakar-fann, senegal; d World agroforestry Centre, research unit sd6, nairobi, kenya; e Géosciences environnement Toulouse (GeT), observatoire Midi-pyrénées, Toulouse, france; f laboratoired'aérologie (la), observatoire Midi-pyrénées, Toulouse, france

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