Enhancement of rainfall and runoff upstream from irrigation location in a climate model of West Africa
This study investigates the impact of potential medium-scale irrigation (about 60,000 km²) on the climate of West Africa using the MIT Regional Climate Model. We find that irrigation at this scale induces an atmospheric response similar to that of large-scale irrigation (about 400,000km²) which was...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Geophysical Union
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110306 |
| _version_ | 1811093634313879552 |
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| author | Im, Eun Soon Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. |
| author2 | Singapore-MIT Alliance in Research and Technology (SMART) |
| author_facet | Singapore-MIT Alliance in Research and Technology (SMART) Im, Eun Soon Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. |
| author_sort | Im, Eun Soon |
| collection | MIT |
| description | This study investigates the impact of potential medium-scale irrigation (about 60,000 km²) on the climate of West Africa using the MIT Regional Climate Model. We find that irrigation at this scale induces an atmospheric response similar to that of large-scale irrigation (about 400,000km²) which was considered in our previous theoretical study. While the volume of water needed for large-scale irrigation is about 230–270 km³, the medium-scale irrigation requires about 50 km³, and the annual flow of the Niger river in the relevant section is about 70 km³. The remote response of rainfall distribution to local irrigation exhibits a significant sensitivity to the latitudinal location of irrigation. The nature of this response is such that irrigation from the Niger River around latitude 18°N induces significant increase in rainfall of order 100% in the upstream sources of the Niger River and results in significant increase in runoff of order 50%. This additional runoff can potentially be collected by the river network and delivered back toward the irrigation area. By selecting the location of irrigation carefully, the positive impacts of irrigation on rainfall distribution can be maximized. The approach of using a regional climate model to investigate the impact of location and size of irrigation schemes, explored in this study, may be the first step in incorporating land-atmosphere interactions in the design of location and size of irrigation projects. However, this theoretical approach is still in early stages of development and further research is needed before any practical application in water resources planning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:48:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/110306 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:48:13Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1103062022-09-29T16:15:00Z Enhancement of rainfall and runoff upstream from irrigation location in a climate model of West Africa Im, Eun Soon Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. Singapore-MIT Alliance in Research and Technology (SMART) Parsons Laboratory for Environmental Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Im, Eun Soon Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. This study investigates the impact of potential medium-scale irrigation (about 60,000 km²) on the climate of West Africa using the MIT Regional Climate Model. We find that irrigation at this scale induces an atmospheric response similar to that of large-scale irrigation (about 400,000km²) which was considered in our previous theoretical study. While the volume of water needed for large-scale irrigation is about 230–270 km³, the medium-scale irrigation requires about 50 km³, and the annual flow of the Niger river in the relevant section is about 70 km³. The remote response of rainfall distribution to local irrigation exhibits a significant sensitivity to the latitudinal location of irrigation. The nature of this response is such that irrigation from the Niger River around latitude 18°N induces significant increase in rainfall of order 100% in the upstream sources of the Niger River and results in significant increase in runoff of order 50%. This additional runoff can potentially be collected by the river network and delivered back toward the irrigation area. By selecting the location of irrigation carefully, the positive impacts of irrigation on rainfall distribution can be maximized. The approach of using a regional climate model to investigate the impact of location and size of irrigation schemes, explored in this study, may be the first step in incorporating land-atmosphere interactions in the design of location and size of irrigation projects. However, this theoretical approach is still in early stages of development and further research is needed before any practical application in water resources planning. 2017-06-27T14:59:04Z 2017-06-27T14:59:04Z 2014-11 2014-03 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0043-1397 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110306 Im, Eun-Soon and Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. “Enhancement of Rainfall and Runoff Upstream from Irrigation Location in a Climate Model of West Africa.” Water Resources Research 50, 11 (November 2014): 8651–8674 © 2014 American Geophysical Union en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2014WR015592 Water Resources Research Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Geophysical Union MIT Web Domain |
| spellingShingle | Im, Eun Soon Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. Enhancement of rainfall and runoff upstream from irrigation location in a climate model of West Africa |
| title | Enhancement of rainfall and runoff upstream from irrigation location in a climate model of West Africa |
| title_full | Enhancement of rainfall and runoff upstream from irrigation location in a climate model of West Africa |
| title_fullStr | Enhancement of rainfall and runoff upstream from irrigation location in a climate model of West Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancement of rainfall and runoff upstream from irrigation location in a climate model of West Africa |
| title_short | Enhancement of rainfall and runoff upstream from irrigation location in a climate model of West Africa |
| title_sort | enhancement of rainfall and runoff upstream from irrigation location in a climate model of west africa |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/110306 |
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