Strategy:

ESPOIRS is part of a global scientific strategy, initiated several years ago by LACy, the University of La Réunion and their regional and national partners, aimed at:

Improve the understanding, forecasting and space-time variability of extreme weather events and their impacts in the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) sub-region;

Better anticipate and characterize the evolution of these events in a context of climate change and territorial resilience;

Strengthen scientific and technical collaboration, training, and regional expertise in the field of meteorology and remote sensing;

Contribute to strengthening the means of meteorological observations in the SWIO region in collaboration with the meteorological research centers of this region

Implementations:

Study and analysis of the space-time distribution of the water vapor field at regional and local scales by GNSS measurements: deployment of 4 additional stations to expand the OI network around Madagascar

Study of the mechanisms of formation and transformation of intense precipitation at the local scale in interaction with the relief: acquisition and deployment of a double polarization Doppler X-band precipitation radar (GAMIC MWR-25-DP) in Reunion, the Seychelles and Madagascar.

Steering, training and promotion actions in cooperation with regional partners.

Action 1:

1.1: Study of the water cycle at the regional scale

1.2: Study of the water cycle at the local scale

The first action aims to improve our understanding of the water cycle in the SWIO basin in order to better understand its impact on the formation of precipitation at regional and, to a lesser extent, local scales.

This action is essentially based on the use of observations collected by the GNSS water vapor observation network deployed by LACy and its partners throughout the Indian Ocean.

Action 2:

2.1: Acquisition of fine-scale radar observations

2.2: Study of the impact of relief on the intensity and distribution of precipitation at the local scale

2.3: Development of new decision support and crisis management tools

The second action aims to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of formation of intense precipitation at the local scale by precisely documenting the physical and statistical properties of the precipitating systems on three distinct islands with very marked relief (Réunion, Mahé-Seychelles, Madagascar).

This action is based on the implementation of a dedicated cloud and precipitation observation strategy based on a new unique X-band precipitation radar in the SWIO region.

Action 3:

3.1: Project management

3.2: Training

3.3: Promotion of scientific work

The third action aims to strengthen regional expertise in the field of remote sensing and tropical meteorology in collaboration with LACy partner universities in the Indian Ocean area.

It is based on the implementation of training and teaching actions, backed by communication actions aimed at the general public and the scientific community, making it possible to strengthen research capacities in the SWIO sub-region.

It also aims to provide territorial managers with leads for the definition of innovative decision-making support tools.

Partners

Seychelles Meteorological Authority

Direction Générale de la Météorologie

Direction Inter-Régionale Océan Indien

Institut Supérieur de Technologie d’Antsiranana

Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique d’Antananarivo

Acknowledgements:

This work is part of the INTERREG V ESPOIRS project (Study of Precipitating Systems in the Indian Ocean by Radar and Satellites). The ESPOIRS scientific program is led by LACy (University of La Réunion / CNRS / Météo France) and funded by the European Union (FEDER program - GURDTI/20201589-0021087), the Réunion Region, SGAR-Réunion, the State (CPER) and the University of La Réunion.