A GIS for hydrological modelling in the semi-arid, HAPEX-Sahel experiment area of Niger, Africa

During the HAPEX-Sahel experiment (1991–94), water redistribution processes were studied at the meso-scale (10 000 km²) near Niamey, Niger. A project now under way at ORSTOM aims at modelling the regional water balance through a spatial approach combining GIS data organization and distributed hydrological modelling. The main objective is to extend the surface water balance, by now available only on a few, small (around 1 km²) unconnected endoreic catchments, to a more significant part of the HAPEX-Sahel square degree, a 1500 km² region called SSZ that includes most of the environmental and hydrology measurement sites. GIS architecture and model design consistently consider data and processes at the local, catchment scale, and at the regional scale. The GIS includes spatial and temporal hydrological data (rainfall, surface runoff, ground water), thematic maps (topography, soil, geomorphology, vegetation) and multi-temporal remote sensing data (SPOT, aerial pictures). The GIS supports the simulation of the composite effect at the regional scale of highly variable and discontinuous component hydrologic processes operating at the catchment scale, in order to simulate inter-annual aquifer recharge and response to climatic scenarios at the regional scale.