@article{fdi:010073228,
  title = {{W}est {A}frican {S}ahel has become wetter during the last 30 years, but dry spells are shorter and more frequent},
  author = {{B}icher, {A}. and {D}iedhiou, {A}rona},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{O}ver the twentieth century, {S}ahel rainfall has undergone extreme variations on a decadal timescale. {T}his study investigated the recent precipitation changes in {W}est {A}frican {S}ahel using a high-resolution {C}limate {H}azards {G}roup {I}nfra{R}ed {P}recipitation with {S}tation ({CHIRPS}) product over the period 1981-2014. {W}e found that the recent increase in precipitation results principally from an increase in the number of wet days (+10 d compared to the normal) over the entire {W}est {A}frican {S}ahel band, along with an increase in the precipitation intensity over the central part of the {W}est {A}frican {S}ahel (+ 3 mm d(-1)). {H}owever, this overall increase in precipitation is associated with dry spells that are becoming more frequent but on average shorter over the entire {W}est {A}frican {S}ahel band (on average by 30%), and with precipitation intensity that is decreasing (around 3 mm d(-1) during the study period) in the western part of the {W}est {A}frican {S}ahel ({S}enegal). {S}uch reorganization (i.e. weaker but more frequent precipitation) is expected to be beneficial for agriculture and society, reducing the likelihood of both flooding and droughts.},
  keywords = {{P}recipitation ; {CHIRPS} ; {E}xtreme variation ; {S}enegal ; {S}ahel recovery ; {W}et spells ; {I}solated wet days ; {T}rends ; {V}ariability ; {SENEGAL} ; {AFRIQUE} {DE} l'{OUEST} ; {SAHEL}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{C}limate {R}esearch},
  volume = {75},
  numero = {2},
  pages = {155--162},
  ISSN = {0936-577{X}},
  year = {2018},
  DOI = {10.3354/cr01515},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010073228},
}