Nour-Eddine Laftouhi

Cadi Ayyad University | UCAM · Department of Geology, GEOSCIENCES Laboratory

In developing countries in Africa and Asia, meeting challenges of water scarcity and pollution has often been hampered by shortcomings in higher education, including insufficient research productivity and funding, lack of opportunity for university graduates, and a mismatch between university activities and societal needs. To address these issues,...

This study evaluates the performance of five satellite precipitation products (GPM IMERG, TRMM 3B42, ERA5, PERSIANN, and CHIRPS) compared to monthly observations from two weather stations (Laayoune and Essmara) over 2001–2017 using statistical metrics including correlation coefficient (CC) and mean square error (MSE). The results reveal notable dif...

Located downstream of the Ourika watershed near the commune of Chouiter, the bridge studied is built over the Oued Ourika at the level of the N9 (national road linking Marrakech to Ouarzazat). The flood event of November 2014, reaching a peak flow of 347 m3/s, destabilized the bridge’s overall structure. Hence, the need to rebuild a new bridge, tak...

Mountainous regions are vital for recharging aquifers in plain areas downstream, but understanding the geological, hydrogeological, and climatic factors is crucial to comprehend groundwater processes in these regions. Several parameters, including lithology, topography, secondary porosity, geological structures, and climatic conditions, affect the...

The Sakia El Hamra basin, located in the Saharan region of southern Morocco, presents risks of sudden and devastating floods despite a generally arid climate. In this complex hydro-climatic context, the accurate estimation of rainfall is of paramount importance for the management of water resources and flood forecasting. However, the low density of...

The image of the potential Jericho Geopark is defined by its natural components, including its geologically complex springs and karst wadi cliffs, as well as its manmade components of ancient aqueducts and dams, and integration of this ancient infrastructure into modern water management systems. The quality and quantity of spring water and the surr...

Due to its important spatiotemporal variability, accurate rainfall monitoring is one of the most difficult issues in semi-arid mountainous environments. Moreover, due to the inconsistent distribution of gauge measurement, the availability of precipitation data is not always secured and totally reliable at the instantaneous time step. As a result, e...

Floods are the most visible and destructive hydrologic phenomenon in terms of human and economic loss. Typically, flash floods are caused by large amounts of runoff due to short duration and high-intensity rainfall. Floods also lead to environmental and social problems, such as damage to roads, farms, and infrastructures and sometimes pollute surfa...

Citation: de la Hera-Portillo, Á.; Chamizo-Borreguero, M.; Ghanem, M.; López-Gutiérrez, J.; Moreno-Merino, L.; Sánchez-Fabián, J.Á.; Salman, K.; Laftouhi, N.-E.; Fensham, R.; Mohammad, A.H.; et al. Advances in the Knowledge of Las Loras UNESCO Global Geopark in the Framework of the UNESCO IGCP-730 Project. Environ. Sci. Proc. 2023, 25, 75. https://...

Las Loras UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp) is geologically diverse, particularly in relation to water-derived features: springs, karst springs, travertine buildings, waterfalls, caves. In this work, the interactions between geology, geomorphology, structures and hydrogeology are analyzed. As a result of this study, a first conceptual model of the hydro...

Las Loras UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp) is located in the contact between the southernmost sector of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin and the North of the Cenozoic Duero basin. The bedrock is mainly made up of carbonate aquifers, mainly limestones, dolomites, and marls. Hydrogeologically, these aquifers are shared by the Ebro basin (Páramo de Sedano y Lo...

Karst aquifers and, especially, their caves and springs, are singular sites of the geoheritage due to their scientific, touristic and use (water resources) values. Besides, they are recognized as habitats of special protection by the Habitat Directive (92/43/CEE) and would be used for sustainable development in UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGp). Howeve...

The objective of this study is to investigate the hydrogeological and hydrochemical characteristics of the spring aquifer system in the potential Jericho Geopark in Jericho, Palestine. The spring's hydrochemistry influences the physical and hydrochemical characteristics of Jericho Ge-opark in qualitative potentials. The springs are used for domesti...

This study is concerned with the Ida Ouazza area that is located approximately 40 km in the south of Essaouira city, Morocco. This region corresponds to a topographic depression in the hinge of the Jbel Amsitaine anticline (western High Atlas). It is formed by a sedimentary series ranging from Triassic (saliferous clay formation) to Plio-quaternary...

Las Loras UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp) is geologically diverse, particularly in relation to water-derived features: springs, karst springs, travertine buildings, waterfalls, caves. In this work, the interactions between geology, geomorphology, structures and hydrogeology are analyzed. These four components are the fundamentals of geodiversity and t...

Morocco often faces significant intense rainfall periods that can generate flash floods and raging torrents, causing serious damage in a very short period of time. This study aims to monitor wetland areas after a flash-flood event in an arid region, Saquia El hamra Saharan of Morocco, using a technique that combines hydraulic modeling and remote se...

The soils are naturally subjected to erosion, this natural and periodic phenomenon shapes the reliefs, under the combined effect of several drivers, and by the intermediary of certain agents such as the water, wind, etc. The eventual result of the rocks' deterioration and wear is a displacement and deposit where the sediments build up. The Rherhaya...

The tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission TRMM 3B42 V7 product and its successor, the Global Precipitation Measurement Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM IMERG high-resolution product GPM IMERG V5, have been validated against rain gauges precipitation in an arid mountainous basin where ground-based observations of precipitation are sparse,...

L’objectif fondamental de l’étude de l’érosion dans la région du bassin de l’Oued Rheraya est de pouvoir quantifier et évaluer le risque érosif, afin d’estimer le taux des pertes du sol et ainsi mettre en évidence les conséquences induites par leur accumulation. Une analyse générale de la zone a été accomplie dans le but de caractériser les princip...

Preliminary results of the contribution of Marrakech High Atlas watersheds to the Plioquaternary aquifer of the Haouz plain recharge. A primary hydrological study based on remote sensing technologies. The region of Marrakech in Morocco is in an arid to semi-arid climate. The amount of water available is low and varies in space and time. In addition...

Proper knowledge of potential groundwater recharge (PGR) and its spatiotemporal distribution are essential for sustainable groundwater management, especially within the context of climate change. Here, a robust GIS-based water budget framework was developed to estimate PGR at a regional scale and map its spatial distribution. This framework is demo...

The Hydrological modelling in a semi-arid mountainous area is very challenging due to the irregular climate and the spatial variability of vegetation cover and topography. The hydrological model CEQUEAU was used with a daily time step on the arid and semi-arid mountainous region of the Ourika watershed. The capability of the model to simulate the d...

Water management has become one of the major interests in arid and semi-arid regions. Scientists have suggested different criteria and methodologies for the identification of suitable dam sites. According to our literature review, we have used two major methodologies for the selection of suitable dam site location: geographic information system and...

The quantitative monitoring of the shallow aquifer in Marrakesh and its surrounding area shows that the water table has been lowered gradually over the last 40 years, and attaining an acute decline in the early 2000s. This declining trend—if confirmed in the future—may lead to a water shortage, or even to a total aquifer depletion, which would be d...

This work is dedicated to the study of the spatio-temporal variability of climate in Morocco by the analysis of rainfall (gridded and gauged data) and runoff. The wavelet analysis method has been used in this study to compare the rainfall and runoff series and to show the major discontinuities identified in 1970, 1980, and 2000. Several modes of va...

The performance of Tropical Precipitation Measurement Mission (TRMM) and its successor, Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), has provided hydrologists with a source of critical precipitation data for hydrological applications in basins where ground-based observations of precipitation are sparse, or spatially undistributed. The very high temporal...

This study evaluates the performance of the two satellite products: the Tropical Rainfall MeasuringMission (TRMM 3B43V7) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) and the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG V06) (SPPs) to observed rainfall, at different time scales (daily,monthly, and annual) from 1 September 2000 to 31 August...

The Haouz plain aquifer is one of the most important aquifers in Morocco. It is supporting so many activities tightly connected to the local and national socioeconomic development (agriculture, tourism, industry). The recurrent drought the region has been experiencing, had led to a major mobilization of groundwater to meet human needs and socioecon...

Groundwater resources in Morocco are increasingly scarce. The study area which is Central Haouz belonging to the Marrakech plain is not immune to this phenomenon. This is due to the semi-arid climate on the one hand, and on the other hand, due to accelerated population growth and the economic development implications. The Plio-Quaternary aquifer of...

Arid and semi-arid areas are often subject to sudden and flash floods, causing extended damages to the population and infrastructures. This paper presents a method for flood assessment in the Zat watershed (sub basin of the Tensift catchment) via 10-minute numerical modeling using the HEC-HMS numerical model. To illustrate the calibration and the v...

In the framework of the GEF/UNEP-MAP Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem, UNESCO-IHP executed a component on “Management of coastal aquifers and groundwater”, which included an activity on “Implementation of eco-hydrogeology applications for management and protection of coastal wetlands”. UNESCO-IHP sought the coo...

Moroccan High Atlas regions are often subject to flash floods, and are constantly undergoing major human and material damage because of the heavy inundations. Flood damages will increase over the years due to population growth, the socio economic development and the climate change because of the global warming effect. That's why the modeling of the...

Water resources are a priority for economic development, aiming at meeting the increasing needs of agriculture and all socio‐economic sectors. Agriculture is one of the essential pillars of this development in the Haouz Plain. Under a semi‐arid climate, irrigation, consuming more than 85% of available water, is inevitable for most crops. Hence, gro...

Résumé La plaine de Berrechid située en arrière pays de la métropole de Casablanca connaît une activité agricole intense basée sur l’exploitation des eaux souterraines de la nappe phréatique, dont la qualité est soumise à plusieurs menaces de pollution dues entre autre à des rejets des eaux usées urbaines et industrielles. L’évaluation de la vulnér...

Arid and semi-arid regions face multiple problems in terms of water management, particularly where surface water is a primary resource. On the northern flank of the High Atlas Mountains (Morocco), deforestation has resulted in soil erosion and siltation of reservoirs. Better characterization of sediment yield is important for reducing the impact of...

Arid to semi-arid regions are characterized by low levels of surface water and low annual precipitation (generally <350 mm/year). In such area, the Rheraya catchment (225km) located in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, south of Marrakech city, with altitudes ranging from 1084 to 4167 m. The objectives of this study set out a methodology that wil...

Arid and semi-arid regions are often subject to flash floods. One of the most important tools for assessing flood intensity is the modeling of rain events. In the Tensift watershed, the frequency of past floods and their future predictions require a critical consideration of flood risk. In fact, the frequency of floods is increasing because of clim...

RSHS’18 is a meeting point for researchers from both the hydrology and remote sensing communities, and brings together their joint experiene in Earth Observation for developing innovative and environmentally-sustanaible water resources and basin management. It is focused on the use of the new generation of remote sensors and applications to hydrolo...

The Bleida fractured aquifer is not well studied in terms of water resources as previous geophysical investigations in this area were undertaken for mining purposes. This study utilized magnetic resonance sounding surveys in order to define the distribution of water resources in the region of Bleida and to locate areas favorable for the drilling an...

In the last few decades, drought has become a chronic phenomenon in Morocco. It began at the end of the 1970s and continued to the late 2000s. In the present study, hydrometeorological data sets, Standardized Precipitation Index method, and non-parametric tests were used to recognize the frequency and the severity of drought events during the perio...

In the last few decades, drought has become a chronic phenomenon in Morocco. It began at the end of the 1970s and continued to the late 2000s. In the present study, hydrometeorological data sets, Standardized Precipitation Index method, and non-parametric tests were used to recognize the frequency and the severity of drought events during the perio...

The irrigated perimeter of the Haouz plain is one of the largest in Morocco with 310.000 Ha with intense agricultural practices based on irrigation. Besides, recent studies have shown that the aquifer is characterized by an overall average to low sensitivity and vulnerability. The objective of this study is to provide an in depth diagnosis of the c...

Arid to semi-arid regions are characterized by low levels of surface water and low annual precipitation (generally <350 mm/year). In such areas, groundwater must be used to meet all the needs of the population for water. As a consequence, careful management is required to ensure the sustainability of this scarce resource in response to the demands...

Depuis de nombreuses décennies, la nappe du Haouz (Marrakech), sollicitée pour répondre aux besoins en eau sans cesse croissants de la population et des activités locales, est sérieusement menacée par la surexploitation et la sécheresse. Le climat (global, local) et les oueds jouent un rôle important dans la variabilité hydrologique de la nappe ain...

82-year rainfall timeseries have been studied together with climatic patterns of NAO using classical statistical methods. Then, the wavelet approach has been applied to show annual (1 year) and inter-annual (2-4y, 5-8y and 8-16y) modes distributed following four major discontinuities: 1945, 1960, 1975 and 1995. The 1y, 2-4y, and 5-8y powers show hi...

The aim of this study is to understand the inter-annual hydrological variability (precipitation and streamflow) in the basins of the High Atlas in Morocco and to determine how climate fluctuations (represented by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) climate index) are expressed in the hydrological system. To reach this objective, time series of pre...

Monitoring of water resources and a better understanding of the eco-hydrological processes governing their dynamics are necessary to anticipate and develop measures to adapt to climate and water-use changes. Focusing on this aim, a research project carried out within the framework of French–Moroccan cooperation demonstrated how remote sensing can h...

Located in the High Atlas central-western, N'Fis basin shows a dissected topography, frequent and violent floods, and its characterization by a litho-stratigraphic succession from the Precambrian to the current that engender significant erosion, and cause reservoirs siltation. This study aims to map areas vulnerable to erosion in the N'Fis Basin, d...

The Kingdom of Morocco is located in the extreme northwest of Africa. Most of its territory has an arid or semi-arid climate. Rainfall is very low, usually less than 300 mm/year, with increasing periods of drought in recent decades. The annual levels of rainfall cannot meet the increasing demands from urban centres, agriculture, industry and touris...

Located in the extreme northwest of Africa, the Kingdom of Morocco is increasingly affected by drought. Much of the country is characterised by an arid to semi-arid climate and the demand for water is considerably higher than the supply, particularly on the Haouz Plain in the centre of the country. The expansion of agriculture and tourism, in addit...

Cette étude, basée sur l’analyse des données gravimétriques, a pour but d’améliorer la connaissance des structures géologiques de la plaine de la Bahira (Maroc central) qui contrôlent l’écoulement des eaux souterraines. La carte de l’anomalie résiduelle a d’abord été calculée à partir de la carte de l’anomalie de Bouguer en soustrayant un gradient...

Morocco, due to its location in the Mediterranean circumference, is vulnerable to present and future climate variability and climate change. Its surface water resources are becoming ever more limited and difficult to exploit. It might be expected that the warming of the hot season and drought would result in an increase in arid and semi-arid regime...

Abstract : The purpose of this study is to emphasize on the ASTER images effectiveness and capabilities in the field of lithological mapping. An ASTER image (L1b) covering the study area has been used. Visible, near-infrared and short wave infrared reflectance data (9 ASTER bands) have been processed and interpreted. Preprocessing included geometri...

:The purpose of this study is to emphasize on the ASTER images efficiency in the mapping of hydrothermal alterations in order to elaborate a summary of the image processings to be adequate to the study area and to the high atlas region in a higher scale, in the perspective of developing alterations and mining mapping techniques in Marrakech High At...

Résumé : Pour approcher la relation possible entre eau de surface et eau souterraine dans le piémont du Haut Atlas, au contact de l’oued Rheraya avec la Plaine du Haouz (Maroc), une approche spatialisée par l’utilisation des Modèles Numériques de Terrain (MNT) sous SIG a été tentée. L’objectif était la délimitation des sous-bassins ainsi que les li...