@article{fdi:010064110,
  title = {{E}ffects of climate variability on savannah fire regimes in {W}est {A}frica},
  author = {{N}'{D}atchoh, {E}. {T}. and {K}onar{\'e}, {A}. and {D}iedhiou, {A}rona and {D}iawara, {A}. and {Q}uansah, {E}. and {A}ssamoi, {P}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he main objective of this work is to investigate at regional scale the variability in burned areas over the savannahs of {W}est {A}frica and their links with the rainfall and the large-scale climatic indexes such as the {S}outhern {O}scillation {I}ndex ({SOI}), {M}ultivariate {ENSO} {I}ndex ({MEI}), {N}orth {A}tlantic {O}scillation ({NAO}) and sea surface temperature gradient ({SSTG}). {D}aily satellite products ({L}3{JRC}) of burned areas from the {SPOT} {V}egetation sensor at a moderate spatial resolution of 1km x 1km between 2000 and 2007 were analyzed over the {W}est {A}frican savannah in this paper. {R}esults from seasonal analysis revealed a large increase in burned areas from {N}ovember to {F}ebruary, with consistent peaks in {D}ecember at the regional scale. {I}n addition, about 30% of the pixels are burned at least four times within the 7-year period. {P}ositive correlations were found between burned areas and rainfall values obtained from the {TRMM} satellite over savannahs located above 8 degrees {N}, meaning that a wet rainfall season over these regions was favorable to biomass availability in the next dry season and therefore may induce an increase in burned areas in this region. {M}oreover, our results showed a nonlinear relationship between the large-scale climatic indexes {SOI}, {MEI}, {NAO} and {SSTG} and burned-area anomalies. {P}ositive (negative) correlations between burned areas and {SOI} ({MEI}) were consistent over the {S}ahel and {S}udano-{S}ahelian areas. {N}egative correlations with {A}tlantic {SSTG} were significant over the {G}uinea subregion. {C}orrelations between burned areas over {S}udano-{G}uinean subregion and all the large-scale indexes were weak and may be explained by the fact that this subregion had a mean rainfall greater than 800 mmyr(-1) with permanent biomass availability and an optimal amount of soil moisture favorable to fire practice irrespective of the climate conditions. {T}he teleconnection with {NAO} was not clear and needed to be investigated further.},
  keywords = {{AFRIQUE} {DE} {L}'{OUEST} ; {SAHEL} ; {ZONE} {SOUDANOSAHELIENNE} ; {ZONE} {SOUDANOGUINEENNE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{E}arth {S}ystem {D}ynamics},
  volume = {6},
  numero = {1},
  pages = {161--174},
  ISSN = {2190-4979},
  year = {2015},
  DOI = {10.5194/esd-6-161-2015},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010064110},
}