Evolution des caractéristiques pluviométriques dans la zone urbaine de Butembo (RDC) de 1957 À 2010
Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: 1) , MOEYERSONS Jan (2) , VANDECASTEELE Ine (2) , TREFOIS Philippe (2) & OZER Pierre (3) Abstract: In recent years, the city of Butembo faced unprecedented damaging floods.This study aims to analyze the rainfall variations recorded at the meteorological station of the Agricultural and Veterinary Technical Institute (ITAV) in Butembo between 1957 and 2010.It appears that rainfall features have remained relatively stable over the analyzed period.Linear upward trends were observed for the simple day intensity index (SDII) and for the total number of days characterized by precipitation >= 10 mm (P10).In contrast, seven other rainfall indices recorded a decreasing trend: the total annual precipitation (PTOT), the total number of wet days (rainfall 1 mm) (JP), the total number of days characterized by precipitation >= 20 mm (P20), the maximum daily rainfall (Px1J), the frequency of intense (P95p), extreme (P99p) and very extreme (P99,5p) rainfall.However, none of these trends were statistically significant.Although the floods recurrence became prevalent, the study reports that extreme rainfall events do not reveal exceptional rains in the past few years.Yet, all recent maximum daily rainfalls are considered as normal since their return period is less than six years.This suggests a significant increase in flood risk mainly due to human impacts over the urban area and increasing vulnerability.This study also underlines that the length of the rainy season is shortening, undermining urban agriculture production and therefore food security.
Source: ORBi (University of Liège)
Institution: University of Liège
Language: French
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W46041665