MASTER’S THESIS PROPOSAL
Analysis of Hydrological Variability and Climate
Fluctuations in the Senegal River Basin using Spectral
Methods (Signal Processing)
Keywords: hydrological variability, continuous wavelet transform,
climate fluctuations
Research Director: Prof. Babacar Mbaye NDIAYE
Laboratory of Decision Mathematics and Numerical Analysis (LMDAN)
Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
E-mail:
[email protected] Co-Research Director: Prof. Issa Sakho
Amadou Mahtar MBOW University, Diamniadio, Senegal
E-mail:
[email protected] Master’s Degree Program
Expected completion: August 2025
Contents
1 Research Objective 2
2 Specific Objectives 2
3 Project Timeline 2
3.1 Month 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.2 Month 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.3 Month 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4 Bibliography 3
1
Master’s Thesis Proposal Senegal River Basin Analysis
1 Research Objective
The global objective of this study is to characterize the modes of variability of the hydro-
logical signal in the Senegal River basin in order to determine their origin (relationships
with climate fluctuations including climate indices such as ENSO (El Niño and Southern
Oscillation), AMO (Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation), NAO (North Atlantic Oscilla-
tion), PDO (Pacific Decadal Oscillation)) and to assist in decision-making for integrated
water resource management.
2 Specific Objectives
This work will focus on hydrological variability and climate fluctuations in the Senegal
River basin using wavelet methods. The specific objectives assigned to this work are:
OS1: Determine the modes of hydrological variability of the Senegal River
OS2: Analyze climate fluctuations in West Africa through the following cli-
mate indices: ENSO, PDO, AMO, and NAO, and establish relationships with
the modes of hydrological variability in the Senegal River basin (OS1)
OS3: Analyze ENSO and SST (Sea Surface Temperature) teleconnections
in West Africa and rainfall patterns in the Senegal River basin
OS4: Assess the roles of hydraulic dams on the variability of the hydrological
signal of the Senegal River
3 Project Timeline
The thesis is planned for three months starting from May 2025. The work is organized
into activities (detailed above) which are subdivided into tasks as follows:
3.1 Month 1
Activity 1: Modeling
• Task 1.1: Development of resolution techniques for wavelets and signal processing
• Task 1.2: Construction of modules corresponding to different wavelet approaches
and/or machine learning
Activity 2: Experimentation
2
Master’s Thesis Proposal Senegal River Basin Analysis
• Task 2.1: Discussions on possible machine learning and statistical methods to
analyze this data
• Task 2.2: Numerical tests
3.2 Month 2
Activity 3: Writing
• Task 3.1: Writing a literature review report
• Task 3.2: Writing a model combining wavelets and machine learning with the
models chosen in Task 1.1
Activity 4: Parameterization/Formulation
• Task 4.1: Collection of various information: visualization, hydrological variability,
climate fluctuations, ENSO and SST teleconnections
• Task 4.2: Numerical tests on the data obtained in Task 4.1
Activity 5: Writing
• Task 5.1: Writing work on resolution techniques related to Task 1.2 and tests from
Task 4.2
• Task 5.2: Seminar and report
3.3 Month 3
Activity 6: Completion of Numerical Simulations
• Task 6.1: Numerical tests (with Task 4.2) on the obtained data
• Task 6.2: Thesis writing
4 Bibliography
1. Issa Sakho, Jean-Paul Dupont, Mohamed Talla Cisse, Sanae El Janyani, Soda
Loum. Hydrological responses to rainfall variability and dam construction: a case
study of the upper Senegal River basin, Environ Earth Sci (2017) 76:253, DOI
10.1007/s12665-017-6570-4.
3
Master’s Thesis Proposal Senegal River Basin Analysis
2. A. Rossi, N. Massei, B. Laignel, D. Sebag, Y. Copard. The response of the Mis-
sissippi River to climate fluctuations and reservoir construction as indicated by
wavelet analysis of streamflow and suspended-sediment load, 1950–1975, Journal of
Hydrology 377 (2009) 237–244.
3. A. Rossi, N. Massei, B. Laignel. A synthesis of the time-scale variability of com-
monly used climate indices using continuous wavelet transform, Global and Plane-
tary Change 78 (2011) 1–13.
