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The main objectives of this paper are: (i) to present the rationale for maintaining a long term hydrometeorological observing system in West Africa ; (ii) to review the state of the art regarding our knowledge on the land-atmosphere interactions in this region and the main scientific questions to address in order to improve our understanding of these interactions; (iii) to present the observational strategy of this long term observing system; and finally iv) the paper describes the scope and content of the special issue. As present, 18 papers are accepted for publication in the special issue, 6 are in final form, 12 others were accepted pending minor of moderate revision (written in green in the scope and content section and in the list of references); one is still undergoing revision of the re-submitted version (written in red in the scope and content section). Given the time needed for reviewing a paper and in order not to delay the final publication of the special issue, this overview paper is submitted now, since it is considered that the papers accepted pending minor of moderate revision, will indeed be included in the special issue. We thank you very much for considering this manuscript for the special issue.

Considering the spatial character of parameters and precipitation controlling hydrologic processes, it is not surprising that Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become an integral part of hydrologic studies. The primary motivation for this book is to bring together the key ingredients necessary to use GIS to nndel hydrologic processes, i.e., the spatial and temporal distribution of the inputs and parameters controlling surface runoff. GIS maps describing topography, land use and cover, soils, rainfall, and meteorological variables may become model parameters or inputs in the simulation of hydrologic processes.Difficulties in managing and efficiently using spatial information have prompted hydrologists either to abandon it in favor of lumped models or to develop more sophisticated technology for managing spatial data (Desconnets et al., 1996). As soon as we embark on simulating hydrologic processes using GIS, we must address the issues that are the subject of this book.B. E. Vieux, Distributed Hydrologic Modeling Using GIS

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