Rainfall and Relative Humidity in the Bikoro Peatlands, Democratic Republic of the Congo (2020–2023)

Tropical peatlands in the Congo Basin are essential ecosystems for carbon storage, hydrological regulation, and biodiversity conservation (Dargie et al., 2017). Their functioning depends, among other factors, on precipitation, atmospheric humidity, temperature, and the hydrological conditions of the soil. This study analyzes trends in rainfall and relative humidity in the Bikoro peatland area, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, between 2020 and 2023, in order to examine the implications of these variations for peatland dynamics. The data indicate a gradual decline in rainfall, which fell from 133.7 mm in 2020 to 105.6 mm in 2023, a decrease of 21.02%. Over the same period, relative humidity changed from 59.5% to 60.2%, after reaching 62.0% in 2022. This trend shows that the decrease in rainfall is not accompanied by a continuous decline in relative humidity. The Pearson linear correlation coefficient, calculated based on the four annual observations, is approximately -0.519, indicating a moderate negative linear association within this very limited sample. These results suggest that the relationship between precipitation and relative humidity cannot be explained solely by changes in rainfall. Factors such as temperature, evapotranspiration, atmospheric circulation, and water exchange between the vegetation, the soil, and the atmosphere may also play a role. Furthermore, atmospheric relative humidity is not a direct measure of the hydrological saturation of the peat. The study thus highlights the value of hydroclimatic monitoring that combines rainfall, relative humidity, temperature, groundwater levels, and remote sensing (Georgiou et al., 2023). Longer time series and direct hydrological observations will be required to confirm these trends and determine their implications for the conservation of the Bikoro peatlands.