Impacts of climate variability and drought on surface water resources in sub-saharan africa using remote sensing: A review

Abstract

Climate variability and recurrent droughts have caused remarkable strain on water resources in most regions across the globe, with the arid and semi-arid areas being the hardest hit. The impacts have been notable on surface water resources, which are already under threat from massive abstractions due to increased demand, as well as poor conservation and unsustainable land management practices. Drought and climate variability, as well as their associated impacts on water resources, have gained increased attention in recent decades as nations seek to enhance mitigation and adaptation mechanisms. Although the use of satellite technologies has, of late, gained prominence in generating timely and spatially explicit information on drought and climate variability impacts across different regions, they are somewhat hampered by difficulties in detecting drought evolution due to its complex nature, varying scales, the magnitude of its occurrence, and inherent data gaps.