Variability and Trends of Daily Heavy Rainfall Events over Niger River Basin Development Authority Area in Nigeria
Author(s)
Joseph Sunday Babatolu,
Rufus Temidayo Akinnubi*,
Akintade Taiwo Folagimi,
Omosuyi Oluwayemisi Bukola
Affiliation(s)
Department of Geography, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Nigeria. Department of Physics, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Nigeria. Department of Agricultural Science, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Nigeria.
Department of Geography, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Nigeria. Department of Physics, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Nigeria. Department of Agricultural Science, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
Using 70 years of daily rainfall records in eight stations, an analysis of variability and trends of daily heavy rainfall events over Niger River Basin Development Authority Area was carried out by using Standardized Anomaly Index and Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient. Significant temporal variability on interannual and decadal time-scales was observed in the frequency of heavy rainfall events and annual heavy rainfall amount. Both the annual heavy rainfall amount and frequency of heavy rainfall events demonstrated no pronounced temporal decreasing or increasing trend. However, more recent data records from 1981 onwards revealed an increasing trend. Thus, evidence of a temporal change is apparent in heavy rainfall events in the last three decades in sympathy with global warming.
Using 70 years of daily rainfall records in eight stations, an analysis of variability and trends of daily heavy rainfall events over Niger River Basin Development Authority Area was carried out by using Standardized Anomaly Index and Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient. Significant temporal variability on interannual and decadal time-scales was observed in the frequency of heavy rainfall events and annual heavy rainfall amount. Both the annual heavy rainfall amount and frequency of heavy rainfall events demonstrated no pronounced temporal decreasing or increasing trend. However, more recent data records from 1981 onwards revealed an increasing trend. Thus, evidence of a temporal change is apparent in heavy rainfall events in the last three decades in sympathy with global warming.
Cite this paper
Babatolu, J. , Akinnubi, R. , Folagimi, A. and Bukola, O. (2014) Variability and Trends of Daily Heavy Rainfall Events over Niger River Basin Development Authority Area in Nigeria. American Journal of Climate Change, 3, 1-7. doi: 10.4236/ajcc.2014.31001.
Babatolu, J. , Akinnubi, R. , Folagimi, A. and Bukola, O. (2014) Variability and Trends of Daily Heavy Rainfall Events over Niger River Basin Development Authority Area in Nigeria. American Journal of Climate Change, 3, 1-7. doi: 10.4236/ajcc.2014.31001.
References
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1998)079<0231:STOPAF>2.0.CO;2 [6] Alexander, L.V., Zhang, X., Peterson, T.C., Caesar, J., Gleason, B., Klein Tank, A., Haylock, M., Collins, D., Trevin, B., Rahimdah, F., et al. (2006) Global Observed Changes in Daily Climate Extremes of Temperature and Precipitation. Journal of Geophysical Research, III D05109, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006290 [7] Qian, W.H., Fu, J.L. and Zhang, W.W. (2007) Changes in Mean Climate and Extreme Climate in China during the Last 40 Years. Advanced Earth Sciences, 22, 673-684. [8] Sun, F.H., Yang, S.Y. and Ren, G.G. (2007) Decade Variations of Precipitation Event Frequency Intensity and Duration in Northeast China Journal of Applied Meteorological Science, 18, 610-618. [9] Groisman, P.Y.A., Karl, T.R., Easterling, D.R., Kmight R.W., Jamason, P.F., Hennessy, K.J., Suppiah, R., Page, C.M., Wibig, J., Fortunlak, K., Razuvaev, V.N., Douglas, A., Forland, E. and Zhal, P.M. (1999) Changes in the Probability of Heavy Precipitation: Important Indicators of Climatic Change. Climate Change, 42, 243-283.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1005432803188 [10] Brunetti, M., Buffoni, L., Mangeri, M. and Nanni, T. (2000) Precipitation Intensity Trends in Northern Italy. International Journal of Climatology, 20, 1017-1031.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1097-0088(200007)20:9<1017::AID-JOC515>3.0.CO;2-S [11] Chen, H., Sun, J. and Fan, K. (2012) Decadal Features of Heavy Rainfall Events in Eastern China. Acta Meteorological Simca, 26, 289-303. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13351-012-0303-0 [12] Iwashima, T. and Yamamato, R. (1993) A Statistical Analysis of the Extreme Events: Long-Term Trend of Heavy Daily Precipitation. Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, 71, 637-640. [13] Osborn, T.J., Hulme, M., Jones, P.D. and Basnett, T.A. (2000) Observed Trends in the Daily Intensity of United Kingdom Precipitation. International Journal of Climatology, 20, 347-364.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0088(20000330)20:4<347::AID-JOC475>3.0.CO;2-C [14] Olaniran, O.J. (1991) Evidence of Climate Change in Nigeria Based on Annual Series of Rainfall of Different Daily Amount, 1919-1985. Climate Change, 19, 319-341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00140169 [15] Babatolu, J.S. (1998) Climate Change and Its Implication for Water Supply in the Niger River Basin Development Authority Area. An Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis Submitted to the Department of Geography, University of Ilorin, Ilorin. [16] Milly, P.C.D., Wetherald R.T., Dume, K.A. and Delworth, T.L. (2002) Increasing Risk of Great Floods in a Changing Climate. Nature, 415, 514-517. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/415514a [17] Muller, M., Kaspar, M. and Matschullat, J. (2009) Heavy Rains and Extreme Rainfall-Runoff Events in Central Europe from 1951 to 2002. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 9, 441-445.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-9-441-2009 [18] Von Storch, H. and Zwiers, F.W. (1988) Reoccurrence Analysis of Climate Sensitivity Experiments. Journal of Climate, 1, 157-171. http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1988)001<0157:RAOCSE>2.0.CO;2 [19] Ilesanmi, O.O. (1992) An Empirical Formulation of the Onset, Advance and Retreat of Rainfall in Nigeria. The Journal of Tropical Geography, 34, 15-24.