Monitoring Hydrological Variables from Remote Sensing and Modeling in the Congo River Basin

Paris, Adrien; Calmant, Stéphane; Gosset, Marielle; Fleischmann, Ayan Santos; Conchy, Taina; Garambois, Pierre‐André; Bricquet, Jean‐Pierre; Papa, Fabrice; Tshimanga, Raphael M.; Guzanga, Georges Gulemvuga; Siqueira, Vinícius Alencar; Tondo, Blaise‐Leandre; Paiva, Rodrigo Cauduro Dias de; Silva, Joecila Santos; Laraque, Alain

doi:10.1002/9781119657002.ch18

Cited by 7 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…These environmental alterations require a better comprehen-sion of the overall basin hydrology across scales. Surprisingly, despite its major importance, the CRB is still one of the least studied river basins in the world (Laraque et al, 2020) and has not attracted as much attention among the scientific communities as, for instance, the Amazon Basin (Alsdorf et al, 2016). Therefore, there is still insufficient knowledge of the CRB hydro-climatic characteristics and processes and their spatiotemporal variability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their characteristics are reported in Table 1. Hughes, 2014;Aloysius and Saiers, 2017;Munzimi et al, 2019;O'Loughlin et al, 2019;Paris et al, 2022;Datok et al, 2022). For example, Tshimanga and Hughes (2014) used a semi-distributed rainfall-runoff model to examine runoff generation processes and the impact of future climate and land use changes on water resources availability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The results revealed that the bimodal annual pattern is predominantly a hydrological rather than a hydraulically controlled feature. Paris et al (2022) demonstrated the possibility of monitoring the hydrological variables in near-real time using the hydrologic-hydrodynamic model MGB (Portuguese acronym for large basin model) coupled to the current operational satellite altimetry constellation. The model outputs showed a good consistency with the small number of available observations, yet with some notable inconsistencies in the mostly ungauged Cuvette Centrale region and in the southeastern lakes' subbasins.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the above studies based on remote sensing (RS) and hydrological modelling were validated or evaluated against information from other hydrological RS data and/or a few historical gauge data, often enabling only comparisons of seasonal signals (Becker et al, 2018), which also did not cover the same period of data availability (Paris et al, 2022). Therefore, the large size of the basin, its spatial heterogeneity, and the lack of in situ observations have made the validation of long-term satellite-derived observations of surface hydrology components and the proper set-up of large-scale hydrological models difficult (Munzimi et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent results call for the need of a comprehensive spatial coverage of the CRB water surface elevation using satellite-altimetryderived observations to encompass the full range of variability across its rivers and wetlands up to its outlet (Carr et al, 2019). Additionally, even if recent efforts have been characterizing how water flows across the CRB, the basin-scale dynamics are still understudied, especially regarding the contributions of the different subbasins to the entire basin hydrology (Alsdorf et al, 2016;Laraque et al, 2020) and to the annual bimodal pattern in the CRB river discharge near to its mouth. Up to now, only a few studies have examined the various contributions and the water transfer from upstream to downstream the basin based on a few in situ discharge gauge records (Bricquet, 1993;Laraque et al, 2020) and large-scale modelling (Paris et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A combined use of in situ and satellite-derived observations to characterize surface hydrology and its variability in the Congo River basin

Kitambo

Papa

Paris

et al. 2022

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The Congo River basin (CRB) is the second largest river system in the world, but its hydroclimatic characteristics remain relatively poorly known. Here, we jointly analyse a large record of in situ and satellite-derived observations, including a long-term time series of surface water height (SWH) from radar altimetry (a total of 2311 virtual stations) and surface water extent (SWE) from a multi-satellite technique, to characterize the CRB surface hydrology and its variability. First, we show that SWH from altimetry multi-missions agrees well with in situ water stage at various locations, with the root mean square deviation varying from 10 cm (with Sentinel-3A) to 75 cm (with European Remote Sensing satellite-2). SWE variability from multi-satellite observations also shows a plausible behaviour over a ∼25-year period when evaluated against in situ observations from the subbasin to basin scale. Both datasets help to better characterize the large spatial and temporal variability in hydrological patterns across the basin, with SWH exhibiting an annual amplitude of more than 5 m in the northern subbasins, while the Congo River main stream and Cuvette Centrale tributaries vary in smaller proportions (1.5 to 4.5 m). Furthermore, SWH and SWE help illustrate the spatial distribution and different timings of the CRB annual flood dynamic and how each subbasin and tributary contribute to the hydrological regime at the outlet of the basin (the Brazzaville/Kinshasa station), including its peculiar bimodal pattern. Across the basin, we estimate the time lag and water travel time to reach the Brazzaville/Kinshasa station to range from 0–1 month in its vicinity in downstream parts of the basin and up to 3 months in remote areas and small tributaries. Northern subbasins and the central Congo region contribute highly to the large peak in December–January, while the southern part of the basin supplies water to both hydrological peaks, in particular to the moderate one in April–May. The results are supported using in situ observations at several locations in the basin. Our results contribute to a better characterization of the hydrological variability in the CRB and represent an unprecedented source of information for hydrological modelling and to study hydrological processes over the region.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A combined use of in situ and satellite-derived observations to characterize surface hydrology and its variability in the Congo River basin

Kitambo

Papa

Paris

et al. 2022

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Water Resources in Africa under Global Change: Monitoring Surface Waters from Space

et al. 2022

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The African continent hosts some of the largest freshwater systems worldwide, characterized by a large distribution and variability of surface waters that play a key role in the water, energy and carbon cycles and are of major importance to the global climate and water resources. Freshwater availability in Africa has now become of major concern under the combined effect of climate change, environmental alterations and anthropogenic pressure. However, the hydrology of the African river basins remains one of the least studied worldwide and a better monitoring and understanding of the hydrological processes across the continent become fundamental. Earth Observation, that offers a cost-effective means for monitoring the terrestrial water cycle, plays a major role in supporting surface hydrology investigations. Remote sensing advances are therefore a game changer to develop comprehensive observing systems to monitor Africa’s land water and manage its water resources. Here, we review the achievements of more than three decades of advances using remote sensing to study surface waters in Africa, highlighting the current benefits and difficulties. We show how the availability of a large number of sensors and observations, coupled with models, offers new possibilities to monitor a continent with scarce gauged stations. In the context of upcoming satellite missions dedicated to surface hydrology, such as the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), we discuss future opportunities and how the use of remote sensing could benefit scientific and societal applications, such as water resource management, flood risk prevention and environment monitoring under current global change. Article Highlights The hydrology of African surface water is of global importance, yet it remains poorly monitored and understood Comprehensive review of remote sensing and modeling advances to monitor Africa’s surface water and water resources Future opportunities with upcoming satellite missions and to translate scientific advances into societal applications

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Water Resources in Africa: The Role of Earth Observation Data and Hydrodynamic Modeling to Derive River Discharge

Tarpanelli

Paris²,

Sichangi

et al. 2022

Surv Geophys

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For more than a century, river discharge has been measured indirectly through observations of water level and flow velocity, but recently the number of gauging stations worldwide has decreased and the situation is particularly serious in African countries that suffer more than others from discontinuous and incomplete monitoring. As one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to extreme weather events and global warming, African countries need adequate and reliable monitoring. Decades of available Earth Observations data represent a tool complementary to the hydro-monitoring network and, in recent decades, they have demonstrated their potential, especially for data-poor regions. In this paper, a review of methods for hydrological and hydraulic modeling and for estimating river discharge by the use of satellite data, specifically radar altimetry and optical sensors, is provided, with particular focus on their role in the climate changes monitoring. More emphasis is placed on their relevance on African basins highlighting limits and advantages.

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Monitoring Hydrological Variables from Remote Sensing and Modeling in the Congo River Basin

Cited by 7 publications

References 80 publications

A combined use of in situ and satellite-derived observations to characterize surface hydrology and its variability in the Congo River basin

A combined use of in situ and satellite-derived observations to characterize surface hydrology and its variability in the Congo River basin

Water Resources in Africa under Global Change: Monitoring Surface Waters from Space

Water Resources in Africa: The Role of Earth Observation Data and Hydrodynamic Modeling to Derive River Discharge

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