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ANALYSING EFFECTS OF DROUGHT ON INUNDATION EXTENT AND VEGETATION COVER DYNAMICS IN THE OKAVANGO DELTA
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  • Kelebogile Mfundisi,
  • Kenneth Mubea,
  • Fang Yuan,
  • Chad Burton,
  • Edward Boamah
Kelebogile Mfundisi
University of Botswana, University of Botswana
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Kenneth Mubea
Digital Earth Africa, Digital Earth Africa

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Fang Yuan
Digital Earth Africa, Digital Earth Africa
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Chad Burton
Digital Earth Africa, Digital Earth Africa
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Edward Boamah
Digital Earth Africa, Digital Earth Africa
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Abstract

The impacts of global change especially the recent climate-related extremes such as floods and droughts reveal significant vulnerability and exposure of freshwater ecosystems and related human systems to current climate variability. However, the effects of the extreme drought in the Okavango Delta system are not well understood and documented. Therefore, the objective of this use case was to apply the products from Digital Earth Africa namely: the Water Observation from Space (WOfS) derived from Landsat, vegetation cover baseline derived from Sentinel 2 data; and data from the meteorological agencies such as rainfall and measured river discharge data to evaluate the effects of drought in the Okavango Delta wetland system in relation to its upstream areas in Angola. In particular, we used the 2019 drought as a case study to assess inundation extent and vegetation cover dynamics with an emphasis on floodplain and dryland vegetation. Our preliminary results reveal that the Okavango Delta permanent marshes are resilient to drought, whereas seasonal floodplains are susceptible to drought. Further, we discovered that the geospatial location of floodplains has a direct effect on the timing of desiccation, with the western tributaries that flow into Lake Ngami and Thamalakane River being the last to dry out due to drought. In addition, we found that the drought phenomenon in the Cubango-Okavango River Basin region started earlier than 2019 spanning over a period of 5 years; with 2018 as the year when the wetland system reached a minimum threshold for a tipping point triggered by the 2019 drought. In addition, the results contribute to the development of large-scale drought risk information and products for the Cubango- Okavango River Basin with a major focus in the Okavango Delta. Further, this use case provides recent baseline information on the effects of drought on vegetation cover and river flows in the Okavango Delta system at a landscape approach, which are essential elements for making informed science-based decisions on climate risks management and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by relevant authorities in the Okavango Delta and the whole of Cubango-Okavango River Basin. In conclusion, this use case will be upscaled to other transboundary river basins in the Southern Africa Development Community.