Location

Dahra LST validation station is located about 7 km north-east of the town of Dahra, Senegal.

Vegetation

The field site is hosted by the Centre de Recherches Zootechniques de Dahra, Institut Senegalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA) and is used to validate satellite products in the visible, near-infrared (University of Copenhagen) and the thermal domain (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). The area around the station is practically unpopulated, covered by seasonal grass (95%) and sparse trees (dominantly acacia trees) and the background soil is sandy and reddish in colour. the entire site is grazed by cattle and sheep and migrating camels from the northern Sahel feed on the leaves of the trees. In some cases the distribution of the bushes and trees follows ancient dunes, which causes stripes of high vegetation - hence the name “tiger bush”.

Climate

Dahra is characterised by the hot-arid, steppe-prairie climate typical of the Sahel region. During the dry season from October to March the climate is especially hot and the grass desiccates rapidly, whereas the trees stay usually green throughout the year. During the wet season (July to October) the atmosphere is generally very humid, cloud-cover is strong and persistent, and the grass grows high (about 1m) and dense. The long-term average annual precipitation is about 370 mm. Due to the distinct dry and wet seasons the validation site exhibits a strong annual vegetation cycle.