L'objectif de ce travail est de montrer la vulnérabilité des paysages forestiers en relation avec la variabilité climatique à l'échelle de la Tanzanie d’une part et d'analyser les dynamiques forestières, afin de réaliser une étude prospective des dynamiques de l'occupation des sols dans les réserves forestières de Pugu et de Kazimzumbwi d'autre part. L'analyse des données TRMM sur la période 2001-2013 a permis de mettre en évidence une variabilité saisonnière et interannuelle des précipitations à l'échelle du pays. Les cartes de précipitations interannuelles ont permis de distinguer les années à faible pluviométrie, les années à forte pluviométrie et les années à pluviométrie intermédiaire. Cette analyse a également permis de mettre en évidence 11 types de régimes pluviométriques marqués par des modes de variabilité saisonnière différents à l'échelle de la Tanzanie. Des oppositions existent entre les régimes pluviométriques de la région centrale savanicole marquées par des hauteurs annuelles faibles, un nombre de mois secs important (7 mois) et plus affectée par la variabilité interannuelle des précipitations d'une part et d’autre part les régions forestières du nord, sud et l'est plus humides et présentant des faibles déficits des hauteurs pluviométriques interannuelles. La sensibilité de la phénologie végétale à la variabilité pluviométrique a été analysé par l'étude des relations spatio-temporelles entre l'indice de végétation normalisé NDVI-MODIS et la pluviométrie (pluie TRMM). Les cartes de corrélations pluie/NDVI mettent en évidence une opposition entre les régions sèches du centre marquée par des paysages de savane fortement vulnérables à la variabilité pluviométrique et les régions du sud de forêts humides de montagnes et des régions côtières de forêts de mangroves réagissant peu à cette variabilité pluviométrique. Dans les régions de savanes du centre l'intensité de la dépendance pluie/NDVI est mesurée par un coefficient de corrélation de 0.70. Un suivi de l'analyse des pressions humaines sur les réserves forestières a été réalisé à partir de l'exemple des forêts de Pugu et de Kazimzumbwi sur la période 1995-2015 à partir de l'imagerie SPOT 6 (haute résolution) et LANDSAT. Les classifications de l’occupation du sol ont été réalisées à partir de la méthode orientée objet. Le bilan forestier montre que, des deux réserves forestières, seule la réserve de Pugu conserve encore près de la moitié de sa surface en forêt en 2015 (55% dont 32 % de forêt dense). À l'inverse la réserve de Kazimzumbwi ne contient que 5 % de forêt dense de sa superficie. Sur l'ensemble de la période étudiée (1995-2014), la sous-période 2009-2014 a été la plus critique en terme de perte de forêt. En effet, en l’espace de 5 ans les réserves forestières de Pugu et Kazimzumbwi ont presque perdu le double de leur superficie. Partant du constat d'une vulnérabilité accrue des pressions humaines dans les réserves, une analyse multicritère a permis d'identifier les zones de fortes et faibles pressions humaines. Les zones les plus vulnérables restent celles situées à proximité des axes de communication et des villes. Ainsi, les réserves forestières sont plus vulnérables dans leurs parties est, proches des routes principales et des grands centres urbains comme Pugu et Kisarawé. L'utilisation d’un modèle pour une modélisation prospective en 2050 a nécessité l’intégration des variables explicatives des changements observés et des cartes d'occupation du sol de 1995 et 2014. Le modèle est validé à partir d’une carte prédite et d’une carte réelle. Le résultat montre une simulation exacte à 72 %. Le modèle prévoit ainsi, à l’horizon 2050 une expansion et densification des surfaces artificialisées notamment à la périphérie nord-est de la réserve de Pugu et au sud dans la réserve de Kazimzumbwi. Cette croissance des surfaces artificialisées entraînera un recul important des surfaces forestières existantes à l’intérieur des réserves. / The objective of this work is on one hand to show the vulnerability of forest landscapes in relation to climate variability at the scale of Tanzania and on the other hand to analyze forest dynamics in order to carry out a prospective study of the dynamics of land use in the forest reserves of Pugu and Kazimzumbwi. Analysis of the TRMM data over the period from 2001 to 2013 has allowed revealing a seasonal and inter-annual variability in precipitation across the country. The inter-annual precipitation maps have made it possible to distinguish the years with low rainfall (2003, 2005, 2012 ), the years of high rainfall (2002, 2007, 2006, 2011) and the years of intermediate rainfall (2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013). It has also help to distinguish 11 types of rainfall regimes marked by different patterns of seasonal variability at the scale of Tanzania. There are oppositions between the rainfall regimes of the central savannah region on one hand marked by low annual heights over an important period of seven dry months, also more affected by inter-annual variability, and the northern, southern and eastern forest regions are more humid and presenting low deficits of heights inter-annual rainfall. The sensitivity of plant phenology to rainfall variability has been analyzed by the examination of the spatio-temporal relationships between the standardized vegetation index NDVI-MODIS and rainfall (rain TRMM). The rain / NDVI correlation maps show an opposition between the dry regions of the center marked by savannah landscapes highly vulnerable to rainfall variability and the southern regions of moist forests, mountains and coastal regions, mangrove forests Reacting poorly to this rainfall variability. In the savannah regions of the center, the intensity of rain / NDI dependence is measured by a correlation coefficient of 0.70. A monitoring of the analysis of human pressures on forest reserves was carried out using the example of the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forests during the period 1995-2015 using SPOT 6 (high resolution) and LANDSAT imagery. The land use classifications were realized from the object oriented method. The forest review shows that in 2015 (55% of which 32% is dense forest), from the two reserves only the reserve of Pugu still preserves nearly the half of its surface in forest while the reserve forest of Kazimzumbwi contains only 5% of its area. Over the entire period studied, the sub-period 2009-2014 was the most critical in terms of forest loss. In fact, within five years the forest reserves of Pugu and Kazimzumbwi have almost lost the double of their area. Based on the increased vulnerability of human pressures in the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves and their periphery, a multicriteria analysis has made it possible to identify areas of high and low human pressures. The most vulnerable areas remain those located close to the communication axes and cities. Consequently forest reserves are more vulnerable in their eastern parts, close to major roads and major urban centers such as Pugu and Kazimzumbwi. The use of a model for prospective modeling in 2050 has required the integration of the explanatory variables of the observed changes and the land use maps of 1995 and 2014. The model is validated from a predicted map and a real map. The result shows an exact simulation at 72%, based on this hypothesis of an increase in anthropogenic human pressures on the two forest reserves over time; we have predicted the land use map of 2050 under the effect of explanatory variables. This prospective modeling therefore envisages, by 2050, an expansion and densification of artificial surfaces, notably at the north-eastern periphery of the reserve of Pugu and on the south in the kazimzumbwi reserve. This growth in artificial surfaces will result in a significant decline in existing forest areas within reserves.

In the present work, methodology of statistical analysis of change evolved by Kundzewicz and Robson (204) is revised to obtain a robust methodology named as “Comprehensive Aproach” which addresses research gaps of earlier method, as also those found by literature review. Main aspects of the revised method are: 1) importance of graphical representations as first step, in which, if line spectrum has constant spectral density function then time series is random and no need of further trend detection, 2) importance of computation of statistical parameters of data for deciding type of step change test to be used and for cross checking results of exploratory data analysis (EDA), 3) application of EDA, statistical parameters and checking assumption(s) about the data by statistical test(s) is suggested and also results of these steps can be used to cross check results of each other, 4) suggested basis for selection of step change test(s) i.e. evaluation of two aspects of step change viz. detection and location of step change, 5) suggested basis for selection of trend detection tests i.e. evaluation of all four aspects of trend viz. magnitude, statistical significance, beginning and end of trend and nature of trend, 6) evaluation of regional significance is suggested as essential wherever applicable. The revised method i.e. “Comprehensive Approach” is applied for the trend detection of rainfall of seven homogenous rainfall regions and al India at annual, monthly and seasonal temporal scales for three time periods 1901-203, 1948-203 and 1970-203. Between 100 N to 300 N, there was marked increase in precipitation from 190 to 1950s, but decrease after about 1970 (Trenberth et al., 207). Thus starting years of three time periods are selected as 1901, 1948 and 1970. To have similarity of end year, in analysis periods given in chapters 1, 2 and chapters 3, 4; their end years are kept close to each other i.e. end year of analysis periods is 203 in chapters 1, 2 and end year of analysis periods is 204 in chapters 3, 4. Thus 203 are considered as common end year of three time periods. Burn and Elnur (202) sugested that least number of years required for ensuring statistical validity of results of trend detection are 25 years. So in the third time period (1970-203), the duration is 34 years which is more than 25 years. Three time periods are having data of 103 years (1901-203), 56 years (1948-203) and 34 years (1970- 203) so effect of different time durations on trend detection analysis results is studied. Also temporal scales used in trend detection analysis are annual, monthly and seasonal (4 seasons) thus presence of trend is assessed in these main temporal scales. Results of the analysis showed that, statistically significant trends are found in: 1) winter rainfall time series of peninsular India (PENIN) region for the time period 1901-203, 2) pre-monsoon rainfall time series of north west India (NWIND) and central north east India (CNEIN) regions for the time period 1948-203, 3) monsoon rainfall time series of west central India (WCIND) region for the time period 1948-203, 4) August month rainfall time series of north east India (NEIND) region for the time period 1901-203, 5) June month rainfall time series of NEIND region for the time period 1948-203, 6) Also regionally significant trends are detected in pre- monsoon rainfall time series of five homogeneous regions for the time period 1948-203. Regionally significant trends are detected in pre-monsoon rainfall time series of five homogeneous regions for the time period 1948-203. But effect of cross correlation between rainfall time series of stations of subdivisions and between the sub-divisions in a region is not accounted in the field/regional significance evaluation and Hegel et al. (207) suggested that reactions to external forcing in trends of regional precipitation trends exhibit weak signal to noise ratios and likely to exhibit strong variations in space because of dependency of precipitation on geographic parameters like pornography and atmospheric circulation. Thus attribution of precipitation is more difficult. Also Saikranthi et al. (2013) suggested that homogeneity of rainfall zones may change in future. So, attribution of trends detected in pre-monsoon rainfall time series of five homogeneous regions was not possible. The results of statistically significant trends are confirmed by smoothing curves, innovative trend analysis plots and Sen.’s slope estimates. Contributions by present trend detection study on rainfall of homogenous regions by using “Comprehensive Approach” method are: 1) modification of guidelines of statistical analysis of change to evolve a robust method termed as “Comprehensive Approach”, 2) systematic trend detection analysis is performed pertaining to the rainfall of core monsoon India (CORIN) region and homogeneous India (HOMIN) region, which was not done earlier, 3) systematic trend detection analysis is performed on the rainfall of al India and seven homogenous regions concurrently for aforesaid temporal scales and time periods (except regional significance evaluation only for five homogeneous regions), which was not done earlier, 4) Man Kendal test with block bootstrapping approach (MKBBS) test (not effected by serial correlation) is used for trend detection of serially correlated data and Man Kendal (MK) test is used for trend detection of serially uncorrelated data. Sen.’s slope is used for evaluation of trend magnitude, 5) evaluation of field/regional significance of trends in rainfall over five homogenous regions is performed, which was not done earlier, 6) Location of beginning, end and progress of trend in rainfall of all India and seven homogenous regions concurrently is performed, which was not done earlier. As mentioned aforesaid, attribution of regionally significant trends detected in pre-monsoon rainfall time series of five homogeneous regions for the time period 1948-203 was not possible because of non-accounting of effects of cross correlation, attribution of rainfall is difficult and homogeneity of rainfall zones may change in future as discussed above in detail. So a thorough investigation about trends in rainfall, three temperatures (minimum, mean and maximum) and stream flow at regional (basin) scale was proposed to be ascertained. As Tapi basin is exposed to occurrence of heavy floods (Joshi and Shah, 2014) and it is climatically sensitive (Bhamare and Agone, 201; Gosain et al. 206; Deshpande et al., 2016), it is considered as study area. The trend detection analysis of gridded data (chapter 4) and regional time series (chapter 3) of rainfall and three temperatures data (1971-204) along with that for station data of stream flow (1979-204) of five gauging stations (chapter 4) is carried out using “Comprehensive Approach” for all temporal scales. Common available end year of data of rainfall, temperature and stream flow was 204 as data after 204 was not available for stream flow for all five gauging stations. Also data of rainfall (0.50 x 0.50) was available from year 1971, which was common starting year among data of rainfall and three temperatures. Also common starting year of stream flow data was 1979. Because of unavailability of rainfall data (0.50 x 0.50) before 1971, the three time periods used in chapters 1 and 2 are not used in chapters 3 and 4, thus only one time period is used for rainfall and three temperatures (1971-204) and stream flow (1979-204). The analysis has shown the presence of regionally significant rends in the gridded data of annual mean temperature (Tmean) and winter Tmean over Tapi basin apart from significant trends found in regional time series of annual Tmean and winter Tmean of Tapi basin. Monthly, winter and pre- monsoon stream flow volume time series have also shown regionally significant trends over five gauging stations of Tapi basin. Main contributions of the trend detection analysis of hydro- climatic variables of Tapi basin are: 1) grid wise, regional scale and station wise trend detection of three temperatures, rainfall and stream flow respectively is performed, which was not done earlier, 2) regional significance evaluation of gridded data (rainfall and three temperatures) and station data of stream flow (five stream flow gauging stations) is performed, which was not done earlier, 3) all four aspects of trend of hydro-climatic variables are evaluated, which was not done earlier, 4) systematic trend detection study of gridded, regional and station data of hydro-climatic variables is performed in present study which was not done earlier. After detection of regionally significant trends, next step is finding the causal factors through attribution study. Once causal factors of climate change observed in given variable are found, then remedial measures can be carried out for minimizing the effect of these factors on climate change observed in given variable. There are three main methods of attribution found in literature viz. finger printing, optimal finger printing and artificial neural network (ANN) model. In finger printing method only the leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) is used, so this method is conservative. In optimal finger printing, multivariate regression is used, which has certain assumptions which are difficult to be fulfilled in the case of climate studies as climate is essentially a non-linear dynamic system. ANN being non-linear in nature provides the required solution for the attribution problem related to climate. Attribution of regionally significant trends detected in monthly, winter and pre-monsoon stream flow volume time series of five gauging stations of Tape basin is not performed because five gauging stations were not representative of entire Tapi basin and two out of the five gauging stations have missing data greater than 15%. Number of significant monotonically increasing trends are more in winter gridded Tmean data as compared to annual gridded Tmean data. Thus attribution analysis of winter gridded Tmean data has given first priority followed by attribution of annual gridded Tmean data. ANN model is developed for the attribution of climate change observed in gridded data of winter Tmean and annual Tmean in three steps: 1) input variable selection (IVS) based on partial mutual information (PMI), 2) data splitting using k-means clustering method and Neyman allocation, 3) ANN model formulation by using best training algorithm among Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm, scaled conjugate gradient (SCG) algorithm and Broyden, Fletcher, Goldfarb, and Shano (BFGS) algorithm and optimum number of hidden neurons (varying from 1 to 3) corresponding to performance in terms of mean squared error (MSE) and to use these in final ANN model formulation with computation of performance evaluation measures (PEMs). Aforesaid third step is repeated for 50 iterations for each input forcing and given target output to minimize any random variation due to reinitialization of training algorithms. Also random variations due to initialization of ANN model are minimized by keeping initial weights and biases equal to zero. Final PEMs evaluated were the averages of 50 iterations as mentioned aforesaid. Target outputs used in two ANN attribution models are time series of regional winter Tmean and regional annual Tmean. Also in some cases of ANN model formulations, network parameters are kept less than number of data points in the training set for minimizing overriding. Inputs for ANN model were circulation indices and regional, global and national scale input variables. The inputs selected by PMI based input selection (PMIS) algorithm in the step of IVS of both ANN attribution models are seen to be subjected to natural and anthropogenic forcing, which undisputedly shows significant role of anthropogenic activities in observed climate change in aforesaid two gridded temperature variables. Also ranking of input forcing is performed in both the ANN attribution models according to their final PEM values. In the case of ANN attribution model for regional winter Tmean time series, dominant role of natural (‘nat’) input forcing is found behind the given climate change as compared to anthropogenic (‘anth’) input forcing. Among ‘anth’ inputs, effect of land cover (‘Landcover’) input forcing is found to be dominant as compared to green house gases (‘GHgases’) input forcing. Among ‘Landcover’ inputs, urban landcover input was found to be one of the important inputs. In the case of ANN attribution model for regional annual Tmean time series, dominant role of ‘anth’ input forcing is found behind the given climate change as compared to ‘nat’ input forcing. Among ‘anth’ inputs, there is dominant role of ‘Landcover’ input forcing as compared to ‘GHgases’ input forcing. Among ‘Landcover’ inputs, urban landcover input was found to be one of the important inputs. Contributions of attribution study are: 1) checking of input independence and significance by using PMI IVS method, which was not performed earlier, 2) division of data in such a way that al patterns of whole data are present in training, testing and validation subsets and the statistical properties of these subsets are similar to each other and to whole data, which was not performed earlier, 3) using LM, SCG and BFGS algorithms which are converging fatly as compared to Windrow-Hof algorithm and gradient descent algorithm. Also these three algorithms are les liable to be get stuck in local minima, 4) using land cover data as input forcing to ANN model used for attribution of climate change, which was not done earlier.

Le paludisme est la maladie tropicale la plus redoutable au monde. Un enfant africain meurt de paludisme toutes les 30 secondes. La complexité spécifique du paludisme serait liée à une forte interaction du Plasmodium et de son vecteur avec l’environnement. Les cartes de distribution géographique montrent que la présence et l’impact du paludisme en santé publique varient considérablement avec le climat. L’éco-épidémiologie du paludisme au Sahara est encore mal connu. L’absence de pluies pendant des années peut entraîner une rupture prolongée de la transmission, comme les années 1970 à 1973, où le paludisme s’était retiré du sahel du fait de la sécheresse. Lorsqu’il pleut abondamment, la transmission sporadique peut se transformer rapidement en épidémies de paludisme qui surprennent de temps en temps la population faiblement ou non immunisée. Le sahel est caractérisé par une variabilité accrue du climat dont les bases sont encore mal cernées. L’effet majeur prévisible du changement climatique serait la transformation de tout le cycle de l’eau dont les manifestations importantes en Afrique seront les sécheresses et les inondations. Les inondations provoquent d’importants déplacements de populations. Les pluies diluviennes devraient faciliter la propagation du paludisme et la colonisation de nouveaux territoires, voire une possibilité de migration retour de l’anophèle plus au Nord jusqu’au sud de l’Europe. Le manque d’immunité des populations nord-sahéliennes peut occasionner des phénomènes épidémiques de grande ampleur et à grande échelle. Notre étude visait à comprendre les mécanismes d’impact du climat sur le paludisme dans le Sahel malien. Nos ressources financières ne permettaient pas de mener une étude longue à l’échelle du climat. Néanmoins, nous avons voulu démontrer "ce qui peut se passer avec le paludisme au Sahara" en cas de pluies abondantes associées au changement climatique. Nous avons procédé à une analyse régionale des relations brutes entre facteurs environnementaux et transmission du paludisme, affinée par une étude locale sachant que la transmission est corrélée in fine aux variables climatiques locales. Contraints par les menaces terroristes au nord du Mali, l’étude locale à été conduite dans une localité du Sahel écologiquement proche du Sahara.Nous avons analysé l’évolution de la variabilité climatique par des modèles numériques en relation avec les données entomologiques intégrées aux données satellitaires du terrain, analysé comment la distribution spatiale des gîtes aquatiques et des habitats humains rythment la fréquence des pontes et des piqûres qui assure le transfert du Plasmodium entre les populations humaines et vectorielles. A large échelle, l’étude montre que la transmission du paludisme est globalement liée à la pluviométrie mais la durée de transmission relève des contraintes topographiques locales. L’abondance des anophèles est liée à la pluviométrie dans les zones exondées et au routage des eaux de pluies dans les zones inondées. L’étude a prouvé un divorce entre la densité des moustiques et le risque de transfert du Plasmodium. Anopheles gambiae infligeait à lui seule 16 fois plus de piqûres inondées qu’exondées. Le taux d’infection de gambiae était 3,5 fois plus élevé en zone exondée qu’inondée et son risque de transmission 2,68 fois plus élevé en zone exondée qu’inondée. A l’échelle réduite du village, gambiae était produit de façon continue bien qu’il pleuve seulement 2-3 mois sur 12 de l’année. Parallèlement, une transmission estivale de mare était relayée par une transmission hivernale. / Nous pensons que ces résultats aideront les acteurs de santé publique à mieux comprendre l’épidémiologie du paludisme au Sahel, en vue d’orienter d’avantage la recherche sur des outils additionnels de lutte pour freiner la propagation du paludisme grâce à la gestion environnementale. Ils fournissent une piste prédictive du comment le changement climatique impactera la transmission du paludisme en Afrique.

Les événements de pluies extrêmes et les inondations qui en résultent constituent une préoccupation majeure en France comme dans le monde. Dans le domaine de l'ingénierie, les méthodes d'analyse probabiliste sont pratiquement utilisées pour prédire les risques, dimensionner des ouvrages hydrauliques et préparer l'atténuation. Ces méthodes sont classiquement basées sur l'hypothèse que les observations sont identiquement distribuées. Il y a aujourd'hui de plus en plus d'éléments montrant que des variabilités climatiques à grande échelle (par exemple les oscillations El Niño – La Niña, cf. indice ENSO) ont une influence significative sur les précipitations dans le monde. Par ailleurs, les effets attendus du changement climatique sur le cycle de l'eau remettent en question l'hypothèse de variables aléatoires "identiquement distribuées" dans le temps. Il est ainsi important de comprendre et de prédire l'impact de la variabilité et du changement climatique sur l'intensité et la fréquence des événements hydrologiques, surtout les extrêmes. Cette thèse propose une étape importante vers cet objectif, en développant un cadre spatio-temporel d'analyse probabiliste régionale qui prend en compte les effets de la variabilité climatique sur les événements hydrologiques. Les données sont supposées suivre une distribution, dont les paramètres sont liés à des variables temporelles et/ou spatiales à l'aide de modèles de régression. Les paramètres sont estimés avec une méthode de Monte-Carlo par Chaînes de Markov dans un cadre Bayésien. La dépendance spatiale des données est modélisée par des copules. Les outils de comparaison de modèles sont aussi intégrés. L'élaboration de ce cadre général de modélisation est complétée par des simulations Monte-Carlo pour évaluer sa fiabilité. Deux études de cas sont effectuées pour confirmer la généralité, la flexibilité et l'utilité du cadre de modélisation pour comprendre et prédire l'impact de la variabilité climatique sur les événements hydrologiques. Ces cas d'études sont réalisés à deux échelles spatiales distinctes: • Echelle régionale: les pluies d'été dans le sud-est du Queensland (Australie). Ce cas d'étude analyse l'impact de l'oscillation ENSO sur la pluie totale et la pluie maximale d'été. En utilisant un modèle régional, l'impact asymétrique de l'ENSO est souligné: une phase La Niña induit une augmentation significative sur la pluie totale et maximale, alors qu'une phase El Niño n'a pas d'influence significative. • Echelle mondiale: une nouvelle base de données mondiale des précipitations extrêmes composée de 11588 stations pluviométriques est utilisée pour analyser l'impact des oscillations ENSO sur les précipitations extrêmes mondiales. Cette analyse permet d'apprécier les secteurs où ENSO a un impact sur les précipitations à l'échelle mondiale et de quantifier son impact sur les estimations de quantiles extrêmes. Par ailleurs, l'asymétrie de l'impact ENSO et son caractère saisonnier sont également évalués. / Extreme precipitations and their consequences (floods) are one of the most threatening natural disasters for human beings. In engineering design, Frequency Analysis (FA) techniques are an integral part of risk assessment and mitigation. FA uses statistical models to estimate the probability of extreme hydrological events which provides information for designing hydraulic structures. However, standard FA methods commonly rely on the assumption that the distribution of observations is identically distributed. However, there is now a substantial body of evidence that large-scale modes of climate variability (e.g. El-Niño Southern Oscillation, ENSO; Indian Ocean Dipole, IOD; etc.) exert a significant influence on precipitation in various regions worldwide. Furthermore, climate change is likely to have an influence on hydrology, thus further challenging the “identically distributed” assumption. Therefore, FA techniques need to move beyond this assumption. In order to provide a more accurate risk assessment, it is important to understand and predict the impact of climate variability/change on the severity and frequency of hydrological events (especially extremes). This thesis provides an important step towards this goal, by developing a rigorous general climate-informed spatio-temporal regional frequency analysis (RFA) framework for incorporating the effects of climate variability on hydrological events. This framework brings together several components (in particular spatio-temporal regression models, copula-based modeling of spatial dependence, Bayesian inference, model comparison tools) to derive a general and flexible modeling platform. In this framework, data are assumed to follow a distribution, whose parameters are linked to temporal or/and spatial covariates using regression models. Parameters are estimated with a Monte Carlo Markov Chain method under the Bayesian framework. Spatial dependency of data is considered with copulas. Model comparison tools are integrated. The development of this general modeling framework is complemented with various Monte-Carlo experiments aimed at assessing its reliability, along with real data case studies. Two case studies are performed to confirm the generality, flexibility and usefulness of the framework for understanding and predicting the impact of climate variability on hydrological events. These case studies are carried out at two distinct spatial scales: • Regional scale: Summer rainfall in Southeast Queensland (Australia): this case study analyzes the impact of ENSO on the summer rainfall totals and summer rainfall maxima. A regional model allows highlighting the asymmetric impact of ENSO: while La Niña episodes induce a significant increase in both the summer rainfall totals and maxima, the impact of El Niño episodes is found to be not significant. • Global scale: a new global dataset of extreme precipitation including 11588 rainfall stations worldwide is used to describe the impact of ENSO on extreme precipitations in the world. This is achieved by applying the regional modeling framework to 5x5 degrees cells covering all continental areas. This analysis allows describing the pattern of ENSO impact at the global scale and quantifying its impact on extreme quantiles estimates. Moreover, the asymmetry of ENSO impact and its seasonal pattern are also evaluated.

Le système racinaire, lien essentiel entre la plante et le sol quoi qu'essentiellement invisible, reste encore aujourd'hui peu étudié dans son ensemble. Les plantes étant ancrées au sol via leur système racinaire, leurs facultés d'adaptation et de survie sont donc très dépendantes de leurs capacités à savoir tirer profit de l'espace qui les entoure, notamment par l'intermédiaire de leur système racinaire. Certains arbres font néanmoins partie des plus grands et plus anciens êtres vivants de la planète, preuve s'il en est de leur capacité d'adaptation au milieu dans lequel ils poussent et aux changements environnementaux pouvant survenir dans le temps. Dans le cas des plantations, les contraintes anthropiques imposées se heurtent parfois aux limites de cette formidable capacité d'adaptation. Les travaux développés dans la première partie de cette thèse font l'objet de deux articles publiés et se concentrent sur une revue bibliographique des connaissances sur l'enracinement profond. Le rôle vital du système racinaire pour la plante est ainsi mis en avant ainsi que ses fonctions dans le continuum sol-plante-atmosphère. Son rôle essentiel, souvent sous-estimé dans le stockage du carbone, est également abordé. Les différentes techniques permettant d'accéder aux systèmes racinaires in situ sont passées en revue et nous présentons la technique du puits d'accès que nous avons utilisé pour observer les racines jusqu'à 5 mètres de profondeur. Nous avons également développé nos propres outils de prise de vue par l'intermédiaire de scanner à plat ainsi qu'un outil d'analyse d'images ( IJ_Rizo) aujourd'hui disponible en ligne.Dans la deuxième partie du mémoire, nous nous consacrons à l'étude du système racinaire de l'hévéa adulte (Hevea brasiliensis) dans le nord-est de la Thaïlande. Premier producteur mondial de caoutchouc naturel, la Thaïlande a fortement développé ses plantations d'hévéas allant jusqu'à étendre son exploitation au-delà de sa zone climatique naturelle, dans des zones à fortes contraintes hydriques. Dans ce contexte, nous avons étudié la saisonnalité et la dynamique des racines fines pendant trois ans ainsi que leur contribution au cycle du carbone. Nous avons pu mettre en évidence la continuité de la dynamique racinaire indépendamment des périodes de défoliation mais en lien avec la saisonnalité de la pluviométrie. Nous avons également pu caractériser la faible différenciation de la dynamique racinaire de 0 à 4,5 mètres de profondeur dans un tel contexte. La troisième partie de la thèse concerne l'étude du teck (tectona grandis), espèce endémique d'Asie du Sud-Est, et notamment du Laos dans la région de Luang Prabang. Le développement de sa culture sous forme de plantations mono-spécifiques se poursuit depuis les années 80. En appliquant la technique d'exclusion de pluie pendant 2 ans sur des arbres d'une plantation d'une vingtaine d'années, nous avons observé l'influence du régime de précipitations sur l'enracinement. Un arrêt pratiquement total de croissance des racines en surface et en profondeur a ainsi été mis en évidence. Nous concluons, dans le cas d'espèces à une forte dépendance à la ressource en eau de surface, à un impact direct sur l'état physiologique et une stagnation de la croissance des troncs. Certains individus ont démontré une capacité d'adaptation en modifiant leur cycle de foliation / défoliation accompagné d'une reprise de la croissance des troncs lors de la deuxième année du régime de sécheresse imposé. Nous avons également démontré l'importance de l'enracinement fin pour le stockage du carbone qui, dans ce contexte, représente plus de 45 % du carbone total, soit environ le double des données publiées dans la littérature.Les données obtenues pour les espèces étudiées dans ce mémoire pourront être utilisées pour la modélisation de scenarios simulant le changement climatique et le changement d'usage des terres. / The root system is essential but essentially invisible. Plants are anchored to the soil through their root system; their adaptation and survival abilities are highly dependent on their ability to learn to take advantage of the space that surrounds them. Certain trees are nevertheless some of the largest and oldest living species on the planet- evidence of their ability to adapt to changes in their environment. Within managed anthropogenic constraints, particular species are vulnerable. It is clear that a wide range of parameters are likely to influence the root system and its operation, which offers many entry points to improve our understanding of a root's capacity for expansion, its dynamics, its role within the plant itself and within the soil plant atmosphere continuum. Available data on the extent and dynamics of plant roots includes several thousand references. However, the vast majority of these observations were made within the first meter of the soil profile. Data acquisition for the fine and/or deep roots is currently limited by constraints of time and financial resources. To overcome this lack of information, while trying to assess root dynamics under different environmental conditions, many models have been developed. However, it is still difficult to describe the complexity of root development in the community and to integrate its "plasticity".To understand such a complex environment, we must work toward establishing a definition of objectives and the tools necessary to develop and implement them. The work developed in the first part of this thesis is the subject of two articles and focuses on a literature review about deep roots. The vital role of the root system for the plant is well highlighted, as is its impact as a link within the atmosphere. We discuss the role of deep roots in carbon storage, which is critical and often underestimated. The different techniques for accessing the root systems in situ are also considered, and we present our access technique for observing the roots down to depths of five meters. We have also developed tools for shooting through a flatbed scanner and image analysis ( IJ_Rizo ) now available online.In the second part of the thesis, we focus on the study of root systems of adult rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis L. RRIM 600) in the northeast of Thailand. Thailand has greatly expanded its acreage to extend its operations beyond its natural climate zone, into areas of high water stress. In this context, we studied the seasonality and dynamics of fine roots for three years and their contribution to the carbon cycle. We were able to highlight the continuity of root dynamics during independent periods of defoliation, yet link these to the seasonality of rainfall. We were also able to characterize the low differentiation of root dynamics at 0 to 4.5 m of depth in this context.The third part of the thesis concerns the study of teak particular to the region of Luang Prabang, Laos. By applying the rain exclusion technique for 2 years on a plantation of twenty-year-old trees, we observed the influence of precipitation patterns. During the period of water stress, an almost total cessation of root growth, at the surface and significant depths, has been highlighted. We conclude that in the case of species with a high dependence on water resources there is a direct impact on the physiological state and stagnated trunk growth. Some individuals have demonstrated an ability to adapt by changing their foliation/defoliation cycle, accompanied by a resumption of trunk growth during the second year of imposed drought. We also demonstrated the importance of rooting as a means of carbon storage, which in this context represents more than 45% of total carbon- roughly double the amount published in other literature .The data obtained for the species studied in this paper can be used for modelling scenarios simulating climate change and changing land use.

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2016-09-06T18:49:35Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE Edneida Rabelo Cavalcanti ATUALIZADA.pdf: 7372059 bytes, checksum: 26125979e4f4747d37b325b7136a017e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-06T18:49:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE Edneida Rabelo Cavalcanti ATUALIZADA.pdf: 7372059 bytes, checksum: 26125979e4f4747d37b325b7136a017e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-31 / A vulnerabilidade das comunidades rurais à variabilidade climática no semiárido brasileiro é ainda uma realidade, devido à falta de equidade na distribuição de recursos e de acesso aos mesmos, às limitações no controle que indivíduos conseguem fazer sobre escolhas e oportunidades e a permanência, ainda que com novas roupagens, de padrões históricos de marginalização e dominação social. A questão do acesso à água enquanto direito humano, mas também enquanto elemento natural e enquanto recurso ao desenvolvimento é tema estratégico na reinterpretação de problemas antigos, como a seca. A novidade é o olhar a partir de novos paradigmas, como o da convivência com o semiárido, e novas abordagens científicas, como o dos sistemas socioecológicos complexos, da vulnerabilidade social, ciclos adaptativos e governança, e do aprendizado social. O objeto de estudo do trabalho é o das condições de vulnerabilidade, hídrica e social no semiárido, o reconhecimento da oferta hídrica local e as ações de adaptação e governança adaptativa envolvendo as comunidades rurais, a partir do recorte da subbacia do riacho Muquém-Passagem no alto curso do rio Capibaribe/PE. A pesquisa foi predominantemente de caráter qualitativo, baseada na aplicação de entrevistas aos membros das comunidades presentes na sub-bacia, mas também junto a gestores nas esferas municipal e estadual, assim como técnicos de instituições públicas e de organizações da sociedade civil, realizadas entre 2012 e 2015, período de seca na região, cujos impactos nos sistemas humanos foram amenizados por políticas sociais implementadas nas últimas décadas, mas que não impedem que haja vulnerabilidade das comunidades diante da questão hídrica, e consequências negativas nas atividades produtivas. Os resultados apontam a dinâmica no uso das diversas fontes hídricas ao longo do tempo, a descontinuidade das ações governamentais no tocante ao abastecimento de água das comunidades rurais, a fragilidade dos processos de gestão integrada dos recursos hídricos tanto no que diz respeito ás demais políticas, como na escala de atuação das mesmas, como na conjugação das diversas racionalidades existentes em relação à água e seus usos. Fica ainda evidenciado nos estudos realizados que a sustentabilidade hídrica da população difusa no semiárido está diretamente relacionada ao uso sinérgico das diferentes fontes de água e ao aprendizado social para participação ativa na governança adaptativa local dos recursos hídricos. / La vulnerabilidad de las comunidades rurales a la variabilidad climática en el semiárido brasileño es hasta ahora una realidad. Esto se debe a la falta de equidad en la distribución de recursos y de acceso a los mismos, a las limitaciones en el control que individuos consiguen hacer sobre las opciones, oportunidades, la permanencia de padrones históricos de marginalización y dominación social. Influye además, la cuestión del acceso al agua como derecho humano, también como elemento natural y como recurso de desenvolvimiento. Es tema estratégico en la reinterpretación de problemas antiguos como la sequía. La novedad estaría dada a través de poder observar, a partir de nuevos paradigmas, la convivencia con el semiárido y los nuevos abordajes científicos. También, los sistemas socioecológicos complejos de la vulnerabilidad social, ciclos de adaptación, de gobierno y del aprendizaje social. El objeto de estudio del trabajo se basa en las condiciones de vulnerabilidad hídrica y social en el semiárido, el reconocimiento de la oferta hídrica local, las acciones de adaptación y de gobierno que envuelven a las comunidades rurales a partir del recorte del conjunto de vertientes del arroyo Muquém- Passagem en el alto curso del río Capibaribe/PE. La investigación fue predominantemente de carácter cualitativo, teniendo en cuenta, la aplicación de entrevistas a los miembros de las comunidades presentes en el lugar. También junto a los gestores en las esferas municipal, estatal, de técnicos de instituciones públicas y de organizaciones de la sociedad civil realizadas entre 2012 y 2015, período de sequía en la región. Los impactos en los sistemas humanos fueron atenuados por políticas sociales implementadas en las últimas décadas. Sin embargo, no impidieron la existencia de vulnerabilidad en las comunidades en presencia de la situación hídrica y las consecuencias negativas en las actividades productivas. Los resultados apuntan a la dinámica en el uso de las diversas fuentes de agua a lo largo del tiempo, la discontinuidad de las acciones de gobierno sobre el abastecimiento de agua en las comunidades rurales, la fragilidad en los procesos de gestión en relación a los recursos hídricos como así también, las demás políticas de acuerdo a la escala de actuación de las mismas. Siendo así, muy importante la conjunción de las diversas perspectivas existentes en relación al agua y sus usos. Queda así evidenciado en los estudios realizados, que la sustentabilidad hídrica de la población difusa en el semiárido, está directamente relacionada con el uso sinérgico de las diferentes fuentes de agua y el aprendizaje social para una participación activa en el manejo local de los recursos hídricos.

Variabilidade climática é um sistema complexo gerado pela participação de diversos atores e sua atuação na dinâmica atmosférica, a (TSM) Temperatura da Superfície do Mar tem papel fundamental de influencia nas diversas características dos índices climáticos: Southern Hemisphere Anular Mode Index (SAM), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), El Nino / Oscilação Sul (ENSO), (TNA) Tropical North Atlantic Index, (PDO) Pacific Decada Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAO). Os Índices com variações climáticas e suas implicações, possuem um espectro de atuação e formação do clima, que se inicia nos macro-sistemas através de suas influências extraterrestres, pelos períodos de atividade solar e outros, que nos convidam a buscar um melhor entendimento sobre o clima e suas forças resultantes. Portanto essa é uma pesquisa simplista, procura demonstrar os entes envolvidos nos processos de variabilidade climática, realçando muito mais o papel dos oceanos e sua influencia de correlação sobre os regimes fluviométricos, estimando definir também a sua grande importância e um melhor entendimento do ciclo hidrológico da escala espaço-temporal na região da bacia Amazônica, partindo de uma leitura do sistema atmosférico e sua influencia dinâmica resultante sobre o ciclo hidrológico. A pesquisa adquiriu através da (ANA) Agencia Nacional de Águas os dados de vazão fluvial dos rios Solimões/Amazonas e Negro, e junto ao Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division da NOAA, foram adquiridos os valores de TSM e Índices climáticos, já para os dados de precipitação foram solicitados junto Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos (CPTEC/INPE). Todos estes dados foram tratados em processamento no Software GrADS e ainda compilados em FORTRAN, para a analise estatística através de (R) Analise e Planejamento de Experimentos, para fornecer os dados de correlação linear, Test-t e regressão linear com o objetivo de sustentar e apoiar a analise dos resultados que possam prognosticar a partir da defasagem entre as variáveis TSM e o comportamento resultante da vazão fluvial. / Climate variability is a complex system generated by the participation of various actors and their role in atmospheric dynamics, the Sea Surface Temperature(SST) plays a key role in influencing the several features of the climate indexes: Southern Hemisphere Cancel Index Mode (SAM), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), El Nino / Southern Oscillation (ENSO), (TNA) Tropical North Atlantic Index (PDO) Pacific Decade Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAO). The climate changes indexes and their implications have a spectrum in the activity and formation of the climate, which begins in macro-systems through their extraterrestrial influences, during periods of solar activity and others, who urges us to search a better understanding of the climate and its resultant forces. Therefore, this is a simplistic research, seeking to show the entities involved in the climate variability processes, emphasizing much more the role of the oceans and its influence on the fluvial routines correlation, and estimating also define a major and also a better understanding of the hydrological cycle spatiotemporal scale in the region of the Amazon basin, starting from a reading of the atmospheric system and its resulting dynamic influence on the hydrological cycle, acquired through this research (ANA) National Water Agency data flow of the rivers Solimões / Amazonas and Negro River, and with the Earth System Research Laboratory - Physical Sciences Division of NOAA, which acquired values of SST and climate indexes. The precipitation data was requested from Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies (CPTEC / INPE). All these data were processed in the processing software GrADS and also compiled in FORTRAN for statistical analysis using (R) - Analysis and Design of Experiments, to provide data for linear correlation, T-test and linear regression in order to sustain and support the analysis of the results which could predict from the discrepancy between the SST variables and the resulting conduct of river flow.

L'étude des impacts du changement climatique demande souvent de mettre en place de longues chaînes de modélisation. Du modèle qui servira à estimer les concentrations futures en gaz à effet de serre jusqu'au modèle d'impact. Tout au long de cette chaîne de modélisation, les sources d'incertitudes s'accumulent et compliquent l'exploitation des résultats pour l'élaboration de stratégies d'adaptation. Il est proposé ici d'évaluer les impacts du changement climatique sur le cycle hydrologique en France ainsi que les incertitudes qui y sont associées. La contribution de chacune des sources d'incertitudes n'est pas abordée, principalement celle associée aux scénarios d'émission de gaz à effet de serre, aux modèles climatiques et à la variabilité interne. Nous proposons dans ce travail une approche pour évaluer la transférabilité dans un climat futur de la méthode statistique de régionalisation des simulations climatiques. La vérification de l'hypothèse de transférabilité effectuée est l'une des principales sources d'incertitudes des méthodes statistiques de régionalisation. L'évaluation proposée ici s'appuie sur l'utilisation de modèles régionaux, dans un cadre dit de modèle parfait, et permet de montrer que l'utilisation de certain prédicteurs s'avèrent utile à assurer la transférabilité de la méthode de régionalisation dans un climat futur. Cette approche proposée pour une méthode de désagrégation statistique est également applicable à des méthodes de correction des biais des modèles régionaux. Les récentes réanalyses atmosphériques sur l'ensemble du XXème siècle, régionalisées avec la méthode développée dans ce travail, et associées aux observations de température et précipitations permettent de caractériser le cycle hydrologique en France. Elles permettent notamment de montrer que la variabilité multi-décennale des débits observés pendant le XXème siècle est généralisée à l'ensemble du pays et est liée à la variabilité des conditions atmosphériques. Cette variabilité multi-décennale des débits est généralement plus faible dans les simulations hydrologiques réalisées avec les simulations historiques des modèles climatiques. Les projections climatiques ont été régionalisées avec la méthode développée dans ce travail. La température sur l'ensemble du pays, en moyenne sur les modèles climatiques, augmente jusqu'à 3,5°C en hiver et 6,5°C en été d'ici la fin du siècle. Les précipitations vont diminuer sur l'ensemble du pays en été, de presque moitié sur le sud du pays pour le scénario le plus sévère. En hiver, elles augmentent sur la moitié nord du pays et diminuent légèrement sur la partie sud. Dès les prochaines décennies, la diminution des précipitations est importante en été, l'évolution est moins marquée pour les autres saisons. Enfin, les résultats des projections hydrologiques réalisées avec un modèle hydrologique et un ensemble de modèles climatiques sont présentés pour les prochaines décennies et également pour la fin du XXIème siècle. Sur la Seine, les résultats sont différents en hiver de ceux présentés dans de précédentes études. Ici, les précipitations et les débits augmentent en hiver et diminuent en été sur ce bassin versant. Ailleurs en France, les résultats convergent avec les études précédentes, à savoir une augmentation de l'évapotranspiration, une diminution généralisée des débits et un assèchement des sols. L'incertitude due aux modèles climatiques et à la variabilité interne sur les changements relatifs de débits augmente systématiquement pendant le XXIème siècle, jusqu'à atteindre plus de 20% en hiver pour le scénario le plus sévère. Dans les prochaines décennies, l'incertitude due uniquement à la variabilité interne sur les changements de débits est aussi forte que l'incertitude due aux modèles climatiques et à la variabilité interne. Dès les prochaines décennies, les changements de débits annuels sont plus forts sur la Loire, la Garonne et le Rhône que les changements maximaux observés pendant le XXème siècle. / The assessment of the impact of climate change often requires to set up long chains of modeling, from the model to estimate the future concentration of greenhouse gases to the impact model. Throughout the modeling chain, sources of uncertainty accumulate making the exploitation of results for the development of adaptation strategies difficult. It is proposed here to assess impacts of climate change on the hydrological cycle over France and associated uncertainties. The contribution of each sources of uncertainty is not addressed, mainly that associated with greenhouse gases emission scenario, climate models and internal variability. In the context of impacts of climate change on the hydrological cycle over France, it is possible to ask what is the contribution of each sources of uncertainty to the total uncertainty associated with mean changes. Is it possible to reduce, and if so how, the contribution of one source or another ? We propose in this work an approach to assess the transferability in the future climate of a statistical method to downscale climate simulations. The transferability assumption is one the main sources of uncertainty in statistical downscaling method. The assessment suggested here relies on the use of regional climate models, in a perfect model framework, and shows that some predictors are useful to ensure the transferability of the downscaling method in the future climate. This framework, proposed for a statistical downscaling method, is also applicable to bias correction methods in regional climate models. Recent atmospheric reanalyses of the 20th century are downscaled with the method developed in this work, associated with observations of temperature and precipitation. The hydrological cycle over France is characterized with these reconstructions. We show that the multi-decadal variability of observed streamflows during the 20th century is generalized to the whole country and is partly due to atmospheric variability. This multi-decadal variability of streamflows is generally weaker in hydrological simulations done with historical simulations from climate models. The climate projections have been downscaled with the method developed in this work. The temperature on the country, on average over climate models, could increased by 3,5°C in winter and 6,5°C in summer in the course of this century. Precipitations will decrease all over the country in summer, nearly by half on southern part of France for the most severe scenario. In winter, precipitations will increase in the northern part of the country and will decrease slightly in the southern part. In the next few decades, the decrease in precipitation is important in summer, and changes are less pronounced for other seasons. Results of hydrological projections done with one hydrological model and an ensemble of climate models are presented for the coming decades and for the end of the century. On the Seine river, results slightly differ in winter from those presented in previous studies. Here, precipitations and streamflow increase in winter and decrease in summer on that river basin. Elsewhere in France, results are consistent with previous studies, namely an increase in evapotranspiration, a decrease in streamflow and much drier soil. The uncertainty due to both climate models and internal variability on relative changes in streamflows always increase during the 21st century, to over 20% in winter for the most severe scenario. In the coming decades, the uncertainty due to internal variability only on streamflow changes is as strong as the uncertainty due to both climate models and internal variability. In the coming decades, annual streamflow changes of the Loire, Garonne and Rhône rivers are stronger than the maximum changes observed during the 20th century.

This study presents results from stable isotope analyses of a modern stalagmite and three soda straw stalactites from Kapsia Cave, the Peloponnese, Greece. The resulting values from the stalagmite are put into context of local meteorological data, as well as previous research from Kapsia Cave. The potential for using soda straw stalactites as complementary climate archives on shorter time scales on the Peloponnese is also explored. The isotopic values in the stalagmite confirm a strong link to the amount effect on an annual scale. On a seasonal scale, variations in the isotopic signal can be detectedas a result of i.e. increased cave air temperature in summer. The stable isotope values in the soda straw stalactites largely correspond to previous isotopic measurements in Kapsia Cave. The trend of the isotopic carbon signal in two of the straws also strengthens earlier theories suggesting a link to CO2 concentrations in the external atmosphere. Soda straws are, thus, encouraged for use in future climate studies, although the sampling method should be further explored. The results of this study contribute to an increased understanding of Peloponnesian speleothems in relation to environmental processes and new insights are suggested into the use of soda straw stalactites as climate archives.

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul / Extreme climatic events have been occurring with greater intensity and/or frequency over South America. Indicatives for these alterations encompass natural climate variability, land use (deforestation and urbanization), global warming, and increase of greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere. South America receives a great input of moisture from the Amazon rainforest, as well as a 37% contribution from the Atlantic Ocean. Considering the whole planet, some atmospheric events need to be analyzed when regarding moisture input towards a continent. Ocean circulation can interfere for example in sea surface temperature (SST), either influencing or not the input of moisture to the continent. The objective of the present study was to analyze the variability of atmospheric moisture in South America and its extreme values, as well as the relationships with the sea surface temperature of the adjacent oceans. The present study made use of ECMWF data, ERA-INTERIM reanalysis (pressure at sea level and surface pressure, evaporation, air and dew point temperatures at 2 meters, and zonal and meridional wind at 10 meters) and also sea surface temperature data from the MetOffice Hadley Centre (HADISST). The analysis period of the present study was between 1980 and 2009, encompassing a period of 30 years of data. First, climatology, trends and extremes of moisture and evaporation (frequency, intensity and reoccurrence of events) were calculated. These were followed by lagged compositions to assess the role of sea surface temperature anomalies during extreme moisture and evaporation events. The main results found were regarding an increase of the pressure at sea level gradient and SST in the southwestern Atlantic, increase evaporation in the eastern and northern coasts of South America, and its decrease in the center-southern region of the continent. Moreover, the center-southern region also demonstrated a decrease of dew point temperature and specific moisture, and an increase in the difference between air temperature and dew point temperature. Decrease in the moisture flow magnitude and intensification of dry events over the center-southern region of South America were also observed. Finally, results showed that an SST anomaly cycle during an extreme event in the continent lasted approximately five months and, at least one month prior to the event, signs of this SST anomaly were already observable. In summary, the most significant moisture alterations in South America were found in the center-southern sector of the continent and over the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, near the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (BMC). Nevertheless, more studies are needed to understand the relationships between SST at the BMC and moisture extremes, particularly in the center-southern portion of South America. / Atualmente os eventos climáticos extremos têm ocorrido com maior intensidade e/ou frequência sobre a América do Sul. Os indicativos para essas alterações circundam a variabilidade natural do clima, uso da terra (desmatamento e urbanização), aquecimento global, aumento da concentração de gases do efeito estufa e aerossóis na atmosfera. A América do Sul recebe um grande aporte de umidade pela existência da floresta Amazônica em seu território e também cerca de 37% de contribuição oriunda do Oceano Atlântico. Considerando todo o globo terrestre, alguns dos eventos atmosféricos precisam ser analisados com relação ao aporte de umidade sobre o continente. Com relação ao oceano, a circulação dos oceanos podem interferir, por exemplo, na temperatura da superfície do mar (TSM), influenciando ou não no aporte de umidade para o continente. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar a variabilidade da umidade atmosférica na América do Sul e de seus valores extremos e as relações com a temperatura da superfície do mar nos oceanos adjacentes. O presente trabalho utilizou dados do ECMWF, da reanálise do ERA-INTERIM (pressão ao nível do mar e pressão em superfície, evaporação, temperatura do ar e temperatura do ponto de orvalho a 2 metros e vento zonal e meridional a 10 metros) e também dados de temperatura da superfície do mar do MetOffice Hadley Centre (HADISST). O período de análise do presente trabalho foi de 1980 a 2009, compreendendo um período de 30 anos de dados. Primeiramente foram calculadas as climatologias, as tendências e os extremos de umidade e evaporação (frequência, intensidade e recorrência dos eventos). Posteriormente, foram realizadas as composições defasadas para verificar o papel das anomalias da temperatura da superfície do mar durante os eventos extremos de umidade e evaporação. Os principais resultados encontrados foram em relação a um aumento da pressão ao nível do mar e da TSM no Atlântico sudoeste, aumento também da evaporação na costa leste e norte da América do Sul, e sua diminuição na região centro-sul do continente. Além disso, a região centro-sul também demonstrou uma diminuição da temperatura do ponto de orvalho e da umidade específica, e um aumento na diferença entre a temperatura do ar e a temperatura do ponto de orvalho. Diminuição da magnitude do fluxo de umidade e intensificação de eventos extremos secos sobre a região centro-sul da América do Sul também foram observados. E por fim, os resultados mostraram que um ciclo de anomalia de TSM durante um evento extremo no continente durou aproximadamente cinco meses e, pelo menos um mês antes do evento, sinais da anomalia de TSM já era observada. Em suma, as alterações mais significativas na umidade sobre a América do Sul foram encontradas no setor centro-sul do continente e sobre o Oceano Atlântico sudoeste, próximo a Confluência Brasil-Malvinas (CBM).