Touré et al. (2025) Spatiotemporal analysis and classification of flood-generating processes in the District of Abidjan using satellite-based rainfall estimates

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Environmental Research Communications
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-09-23
• Authors: I. Touré, Kouakou Kouadio, N’Datchoh Evelyne Touré, Fidèle Yoroba, Andreas H. Fink, Marlon Maranan, Komenan Benjamin Kouassi, Arona Diédhiou, A. T. Kobea, Adama Diawara
• DOI: 10.1088/2515-7620/ae0aa7

Research Groups

Not specified in the abstract.

Short Summary

This study comprehensively evaluates satellite rainfall estimates (SREs) and analyzes urban flooding dynamics in the District of Abidjan from 1990 to 2022, revealing approximately 210 flood events, primarily driven by excessive or short-duration rainfall, which resulted in significant casualties and damages.

Objective

• To present the first comprehensive evaluation of satellite rainfall estimates (SREs) across the District of Abidjan using an enhanced urban rain gauge network from 2019 to 2022.
• To analyze the dynamics of urban flooding from 1990 to 2022, examine flood-generating processes, and assess seasonal and interannual flood variability through a geo-historical approach.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: District of Abidjan, West Africa.
• Temporal Scale: SRE evaluation (2019-2022); Urban flooding dynamics analysis (1990-2022).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: IMERG (EARLY and FINAL runs), CHIRPS (Satellite Rainfall Estimates products).
• Data sources: Satellite rainfall estimates (SREs), enhanced urban rain gauge network (2019-2022).

Main Results

• IMERG-EARLY demonstrated superior performance at the daily scale for SRE products, while CHIRPS was more effective in detecting extreme rainfall values.
• Approximately 210 flood events occurred in the District of Abidjan between 1990 and 2022, with the majority (146 events, representing 70%) concentrated in June.
• These flood events led to over 350 casualties, including 170 deaths and 180 injuries, alongside considerable material and economic damages.
• Heavy rainfall events (> 30 mm d⁻¹) were identified as the most significant trigger for floods across all datasets and municipalities.
• Nearly 75% of the identified flood events were linked to excessive or short-duration rainfall episodes, driven by soil saturation and intense precipitation occurring before and/or during the flood events.

Contributions

• Provides the first comprehensive evaluation of satellite rainfall estimates in the District of Abidjan.
• Offers a detailed geo-historical analysis of urban flooding dynamics, drivers, and variability over a 33-year period (1990-2022) in a major West African city.
• Identifies key flood-generating processes and the performance of different SRE products, which is crucial for developing effective flood risk management strategies and early warning systems.

Funding

Not specified in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Touré2025Spatiotemporal,
  author = {Touré, I. and Kouadio, Kouakou and Touré, N’Datchoh Evelyne and Yoroba, Fidèle and Fink, Andreas H. and Maranan, Marlon and Kouassi, Komenan Benjamin and Diédhiou, Arona and Kobea, A. T. and Diawara, Adama},
  title = {Spatiotemporal analysis and classification of flood-generating processes in the District of Abidjan using satellite-based rainfall estimates},
  journal = {Environmental Research Communications},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1088/2515-7620/ae0aa7},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ae0aa7}
}