Evolution of the artificial inlet carried out in the mouth of the Senegal river by means of Landsat images

Abstract

Making border between Senegal and Mauritania flows the Senegal River. The strong littoral drift, waves and river action has resulted in the formation of a highly dynamic sandy barrier more than 40 kilometers long known as Langue de Barbarie. In October 2003 a canal was performed on this spit 7 km south of the island of Saint Louis. As a result of this fact there was a change in the hydrodynamic conditions, which seriously affected the sedimentary balance in the two sectors in which the spit was divided. Based on data obtained from Landsat images, changes in the area are quantified and it is proposed a conceptual model of evolution that explains the functioning of the new mouth of the Senegal River. This has resulted in to the erosion of the area south of the river mouth at a rate of 1.8 km/year. Making a linear extrapolation in 2023 the Langue de Barbarie will be completely eroded.