For starters, here is a background description of what we are doing:
Info4Dourou combines research and development goals with the intention of pairing cutting edge scientific investigation with improvement of local resource management. This project will bring together students and scientists from the EPFL with their counterparts at the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE), communities in the Singou River Basin (Burkina Faso), and development workers of the Projet de Renforcement des Capacités des Communes Urbaines (PRCCU). Overall, its aim is to address the lack of natural resource information available to local people and to improve scientific understanding of the Sudanian landscape.
Fig. 1 - View of the Majoari village from the highest point in the watershed during the wet season.
Research conducted by Natalie Ceperley
Natalie's research, as a component of this larger research-development project, Info4Dourou, will use an eco-hydrological approach to quantify the contribution of large woody vegetation to the hydrological functioning of the Sudanian savanna. Large woody vegetation connects groundwater with soil moisture and atmosphere humidity and permits absorption of precipitation by the surface soil, vegetation, and deep groundwater. It may buffer the severity of droughts by absorbing water from the rainy season and facilitating access to groundwater resources during the dry season. We will study the hydrological parameters in both the agricultural and savanna land cover using a combination of large eddy correlation equipment, wireless sensing devices, and tools to measure hydrologic fluxes in vegetation and below ground. Collected data will allow us to identify species and vegetation arrangements with increased hydrologic function. Quantification of the importance of large woody vegetation in hydrologic processes will improve understanding of the hydrologic consequences of land conversion, which is essential for developing agro-forestry practices that conserve ecosystem function. Additionally, this research will contribute to understanding the social-environmental complexity and resilience in this area.
Fig. 2 - Natalie doing field work.
Research conducted by Théophile Mandé
Theophile's research concerns hydrological modeling of savanna watersheds. The conservation of water in African agrosystems requires further understanding of the soil, hydrodynamic and climatic characteristics. According to local knowledge, in the last decades the Singou River has become flashier and sedimentized. Large scale hydrologic models answer many hydrologic questions but are limited due to lack of data availability and model scale. This research will work at a micro-scale in order to improve hydrologic models. It will include various parameters including net radiation, evaporation, infiltration, humidity, and temperature in order to get an accurate physical understanding of the soil and water processes, thus establishing the precise hydrologic response to changes in soil heat flux and land cover. The research will use new monitoring equipment such as Sensorcope to collect climatic and discharge data, a scintillometer for heat fluxes, an optical fiber for soil temperature and groundwater flux, and licors and sonics for sensible and latent heats fluxes to estimate evaporation. Modeling is a fundamental tool to understand soil water processes, and will lead to improved soil and water management.
Fig. 3 - Théo doing field work.
Research outreach
This research will take place on the border between agricultural parkland and Sudanian shrubby savanna in the commune of Majori, southeastern Burkina Faso. We will work with local communities and institutions to transfer these findings into local agroforestry practices, using a participatory approach. This final goal of environmental sustainability for people, agriculture and wildlife can only be achieved through interdisciplinary research integrating study of the biophysical system with understanding of socio-agricultural pressures in the setting of geographically and economically isolated villages. Our purpose is to combine micro-scales modeling with an information system of useful hydrologic and climatic parameters, such as data visualization modules, cybercafés and environmental education.For more information please visit the website of the Cooperation at EPFL: cooperation.epfl.ch/Jahia/site/cooperation/op/edit/pid/68433
Fig. 4 - View of the watershed from the exutory during the dry season.
