Search

International audience

West Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate and human-induced changes, exerting increasing pressure on water and plant resources. Sound management of the latter requires substantial scientific progress. In particular, it is essential to better understand energy and matter exchanges through the surface-atmosphere continuum, which are a major driver of the hydrological cycle and of vegetation development. In this respect, evapotranspiration is a key variable, as most of precipitation returns to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration and as it couples the water and energy cycles. In West Africa, current knowledge of this process is still limited because it is mainly based on field measurements that are representative of small spatial scales, or on land surface models that would require considerably more data than available in this region. In this context, this thesis work aims at improving our knowledge of the spatiotemporal variability of evapotranspiration, by analyzing the potential of remote sensing to estimate evapotranspiration in West Africa. The proposed approach is based on an inter-comparison of available remote sensing evapotranspiration products and on the proposal of a new method to generate new estimation products. The study was carried out over three mesoscale sites (~ 104 km2) providing a sample of the eco-climatic conditions encountered in West Africa, namely from North to South: the North-Sahel (in East-Central Mali), the South-Sahel (in South-West Niger) and the Sudanian zone (in North Benin). An improved remote sensing method for estimating daily evapotranspiration and its epistemic uncertainty named EVASPA S-SEBI Sahel (E3S) was developed. E3S was applied to the three study sites using data from the MODIS sensors onboard TERRA and AQUA satellites. Daily evapotranspiration estimates were evaluated against pluriannual observations acquired by the AMMA-CATCH Observatory. This study highlights the potential of E3S for estimating daily evapotranspiration in West Africa. However, these estimates are still subject to hazards of satellite measurements (image quality, cloud cover, large satellite view angle) and are therefore discontinuous. This thesis work also proposes new methods for reconstructing continuous daily evapotranspiration series by the combination of multi-resolution and multi-source estimations. The study shows the capabilities of these reconstruction approaches compared to the standard interpolation methods usually found in the literature. In particular, the proposed approaches allow better depicting the response of terrestrial surfaces to soil drying sequences between rainfall events. The newly generated evapotranspiration products were included in the product inter-comparison together with eight other products available in West Africa at various spatial and temporal resolutions. These products were evaluated at different spatial and temporal scales against local measurements and spatially distributed simulations by twenty land surface models from the ALMIP2 experiment. This study highlights the high inter-product variability especially in the Sahel. It also emphasizes the importance of taking into account information related to water stress in the generation of evapotranspiration products. The kilometric resolution of E3S products gives them a clear advantage in terms of description of the spatial variability of evapotranspiration flux compared to other coarse resolution products. The newly generated products show clear potential for future eco-hydrological and hydrogeological studies in the Sahel.; L’Afrique de l’Ouest est particulièrement exposée aux changements climatiques et anthropiques qui exercent une pression croissante sur les ressources hydriques et végétales, dont la bonne gestion constitue un enjeu scientifique majeur. Plus particulièrement, il devient indispensable de mieux comprendre les échanges d’énergie et de matière au sein du continuum surface-atmosphère qui régissent une bonne partie du cycle hydrologique et du développement de la végétation. À cet égard, l’évapotranspiration constitue une variable clé à l’interface surface-atmosphère car elle recycle la plus grande partie des précipitations vers l’atmosphère et assure le couplage des cycles de l’eau et de l’énergie. En Afrique de l'Ouest, les connaissances actuelles sur ce processus restent limitées car elles reposent principalement sur des mesures de terrain représentatives de petites échelles spatiales, ou sur des modèles de surface complexes, dont l’importance des jeux de données qu’ils requièrent limite leur application. Dans ce contexte, ce travail de thèse vise à améliorer notre connaissance de la variabilité spatiotemporelle de l'évapotranspiration, en analysant le potentiel de la télédétection pour son estimation en Afrique de l'Ouest. L'approche proposée repose sur une comparaison des produits d'évapotranspiration par télédétection disponibles et la proposition d’une nouvelle méthode permettant la génération de nouveaux produits. L’étude a été menée sur trois sites de méso-échelle (~ 104 km2) fournissant un échantillon des conditions éco-climatiques rencontrées en Afrique de l’Ouest, avec du Nord au Sud : le Nord-Sahel (au centre-est Mali), le Sud-Sahel (au sud-ouest Niger) et la zone soudanienne (au nord Bénin). Une méthode d’estimation de l’évapotranspiration journalière par télédétection et de son incertitude épistémique, nommée EVASPA S-SEBI Sahel (E3S), a été élaborée. E3S a été appliqué sur les trois sites d’étude à partir de données issues des capteurs MODIS à bord des satellites TERRA et AQUA. Les estimations journalières d’évapotranspiration ont été évaluées par rapport aux observations pluriannuelles acquises par l’Observatoire AMMA-CATCH. Cette étude souligne le potentiel d’E3S pour l’estimation de l’évapotranspiration journalière en Afrique de l’Ouest. Toutefois, ces estimations restent soumises aux aléas de la mesure satellite (qualité des images, couvert nuageux, angle de visée trop grand) et sont donc ponctuées de lacunes. Ces travaux de thèse proposent également de nouvelles méthodes de reconstruction de séries d’évapotranspiration journalières via la combinaison d’estimations multi-résolution et multi-source. Cette étude montre la pertinence de ces approches de reconstruction par rapport aux méthodes d’interpolation standards utilisées dans la littérature. Les approches proposées permettent notamment de mieux retranscrire la réponse des surfaces terrestres aux séquences d’assèchement du sol entre deux épisodes pluvieux. Les nouveaux produits générés ont été introduit dans l’exercice d’inter-comparaison incluant huit autres produits disponibles en Afrique de l’Ouest à diverses résolutions spatio-temporelles. Ces produits ont été évalués à différentes échelles spatiales et temporelles par rapport aux mesures locales et aux simulations spatialisées de vingt modèles de surface générées dans le cadre de l’expérience ALMIP2. Cette étude met en évidence la forte variabilité inter-produit, en particulier au Sahel. Elle souligne par ailleurs l’importance de la prise en compte d’une information liée au stress hydrique dans la génération des produits d’évapotranspiration. La résolution kilométrique des produits E3S leur fournit un avantage indéniable concernant la description de la variabilité spatiale des flux d’évapotranspiration par rapport à d’autres produits à faible résolution. Les produits nouvellement générés présentent un potentiel évident pour de futures études à caractère éco-hydrologique et hydrogéologique au Sahel.

Allies A., J. Demarty, A. Olioso, H. B.-A. Issoufou, I. Maïnassara, J.-P. Chazarin, M. Oï, C. Velluet, M. Bahir, B. Cappelaere, 2017. Estimating evapotranspiration from remote sensing: the case of Sahelian Africa. Abstract IAHS2017-164. IAHS 2017 Scientific Assembly, 10 – 14 July 2017, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. [Présentation orale par A. Allies] http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/IAHS2017/IAHS2017-164.pdf Allies A., J. Demarty, A. Olioso, H. B.-A. Issoufou, I. Maïnassara, J.-P. Chazarin, M. Oï, C. Velluet, M. Bahir, B. Cappelaere, 2017. Estimating evapotranspiration from remote sensing: the case of Sahelian Africa. Abstract IAHS2017-164. IAHS 2017 Scientific Assembly, 10 – 14 July 2017, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. [Présentation orale par A. Allies] http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/IAHS2017/IAHS2017-164.pdfAllies A., J. Demarty, A. Olioso, H. B.-A. Issoufou, I. Maïnassara, J.-P. Chazarin, M. Oï, C. Velluet, M. Bahir, B. Cappelaere, 2017. Estimating evapotranspiration from remote sensing: the case of Sahelian Africa. Abstract IAHS2017-164. IAHS 2017 Scientific Assembly, 10 – 14 July 2017, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. [Présentation orale par A. Allies]http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/IAHS2017/IAHS2017-164.pdf; Estimating evapotranspiration from remote sensing: the case of Sahelian Africa. . IAHS 2017 Scientific Assembly

International audience; Evapotranspiration (ET) is a fundamental variable of the hydrological cycle which plays a major role on surface water balance and surface energy balance. At local scale ET can be estimated from detailed ground observations (eddy covariance towers), but these measurements are only representative of very limited homogeneous area. When regional information is required, e.g. for monitoring ground water resources, the flux tower measurements cannot be used directly and estimation of ET often relies on estimation from meteorological data through potential evapotranspiration formulas. At regional scale remote sensing provides spatially distributed information for mapping and monitoring ET, but this information is still rarely used for ground water assessment. Indeed, remote sensing estimation of ET suffers several drawbacks. In particular, remote sensing information by itself cannot provide a continuous monitoring of ET because of the presence of clouds and the revisit period of the sensor. Another difficulty originates in the lack of exhaustive evaluation of remote sensed ET since accurate ground measurements are scarce and representative of a limited number of homogeneous areas. This has also for consequence that a large number of methodologies to derive ET were developed with no real possibility of a consistent evaluation. We have developed the EVASPA (EVapotranspiration Assessment from SPAce) tool to monitor ET on a daily basis, together with an evaluation of the associated uncertainties, from remote sensing data in the thermal and the solar domains (Gallego Elvira et al. 2013). This tool combines the estimation of ET from various models and various sources of data, including MODIS sensors, LANDSAT-borne sensors and meteorological information. EVASPA was applied to estimate evapotranspiration over several areas in the products such as MOD16 or analysis of atmospheric-hydrological modeling such as the operational Safran-Isba-Modcou application). The results highlight the potential use of the retrieved ET for calibrating groundwater models (e.g. for estimating aquifer parameters…) or evaluating model inputs (e.g. determination of effective rainfall, identification of irrigated areas…). We also evaluated the impact of the uncertainties in the estimation of ET in the monitoring of ground water. We showed that the main sources of ET uncertainty were related to the uncertainties in incident radiations and surface temperature together with the diversity of ET models. When forced in ground water models, the uncertainties in ET had an impact almost equivalent to the impact of uncertainties in rain inputs. South of France to help in monitoring the water budget of different hydrosystems: superficial aquifer in the Rhône river delta (Camargue), karstic aquifer of the Fontaine de Vaucluse spring system and alluvial aquifer in Limagne with increasing water withdrawing for irrigation. The method was first evaluated against flux tower measurements of evapotranspiration (RMSE between 0.5 and 1 mm/day depending on the ecosystems). When integrated over watershed, ET retrievals were also compared to indirect estimates of evapotranspiration from either water balance and stream flow monitoring or other modelling approaches for time period of more than a decade (these include remote sensing operational