Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Authors
- Foreword by Federico Mayor, Director-General, UNESCO
- Preface
- Cartographic Credit
- Acknowledgements
- SECTION I INTRODUCTION
- SECTION II HUMID TROPICS SETTING
- SECTION III REGIONAL HYDROLOGY
- 5 Hydrology in Humid Tropical Asia
- 6 The Hydrology and Water Resources of Humid Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea
- 7 Hydrology and Water Resources of Tropical Latin America and the Caribbean
- 8 Amazonia Rainfall and Its Variability
- 9 Regional Hydrology and Water Resources in the African Humid Tropics
- 10 Review of Hydrology and Water Resources of Humid Tropical Islands
- SECTION IV PHYSICAL PROCESSES
- SECTION V PHYSICAL PROCESSES – HUMAN USES: THE INTERFACE
- SECTION VI MANAGEMENT ISSUES
- SECTION VII APPENDICES
- Place index
9 - Regional Hydrology and Water Resources in the African Humid Tropics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Authors
- Foreword by Federico Mayor, Director-General, UNESCO
- Preface
- Cartographic Credit
- Acknowledgements
- SECTION I INTRODUCTION
- SECTION II HUMID TROPICS SETTING
- SECTION III REGIONAL HYDROLOGY
- 5 Hydrology in Humid Tropical Asia
- 6 The Hydrology and Water Resources of Humid Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea
- 7 Hydrology and Water Resources of Tropical Latin America and the Caribbean
- 8 Amazonia Rainfall and Its Variability
- 9 Regional Hydrology and Water Resources in the African Humid Tropics
- 10 Review of Hydrology and Water Resources of Humid Tropical Islands
- SECTION IV PHYSICAL PROCESSES
- SECTION V PHYSICAL PROCESSES – HUMAN USES: THE INTERFACE
- SECTION VI MANAGEMENT ISSUES
- SECTION VII APPENDICES
- Place index
Summary
ABSTRACT
This paper reviews the current hydrological and water resources knowledge in Africa and some of the associated problems of the humid tropical region of Africa
Data availability and accuracy are identified as major constraints. Estimates of water resources vary widely. Knowledge about the lakes in the region is inadequate, apart from information on their physical characteristics. A generalized knowledge about the sediment yield for the African region has been put forward recently but is only tentative because of the data constraint. Subregional and regional syntheses are needed on water quality, droughts and low flows. Such a synthesis is available for groundwater, but needs updating with the large amount of data that has been made possible through the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. The impact of land degradation and climate variation on the hydrology and water resources of the region is an area of study that also needs urgent attention.
PHYSIOGRAPHY
Location
The location of the humid tropic region is the low-lying areas within the two tropics of Cancer and Capricorn – basically as defined by Chang and Lau (this volume). Figure 1 shows the African regional coverage which generally lies between latitudes 15°N and 20°S. The region is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Sudano-Sahelian belt and Sahara Desert and on the south by the Kalahari Desert.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Hydrology and Water Management in the Humid TropicsHydrological Research Issues and Strategies for Water Management, pp. 112 - 134Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1993
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