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Spatiotemporal trend analysis of changing rainfall characteristics in Guinea Savanna of Nigeria

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Abstract

This study attempt to examine the changing rainfall characteristics in Guinea Savanna of Nigeria. In view of the aim and targeted objectives, rainfall was carefully looked at on monthly and annual basis in brief and ecological spatial scales with data from 1980 to 2014. The study considered 12 stations which represent the area. Basic descriptive statistics like the mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation including other inferential statistics such as linear regression, and standardized anomaly were successfully utilized. Variables analyzed include monthly and annual rainfall amount and number of rain days. Geostatistical analysis was employed mainly for spatial analysis in geographical information system (GIS) environment. Highest coefficient of variation of rainy days in Northern Guinea occurs in Yola 37% while highest in Ilorin in the Southern Guinea is 12.19%. The coefficient of determination (R2) of annual rainfall amount and rainy days were 66, 56, 63, 73 and 41% for Ibi, Abuja, Lokoja, Makurdi and Lafia respectively. It was generally discovered that rainfall shows variation temporally. The high variations of rainfall at higher latitudes reveal the unreliable nature of rainfall as one progresses towards Northern Guinea and vice versa. This results will enable policy makers and general public particularly farmers to understand the rainfall variability so as to adapt strategies like irrigation schemes for food security. This work will also help government to establish more effective meteorological stations at micro level to have dense network of stations for more accurate results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bayero University Kano, P.M.B 3011 BUK, Kano, Nigeria

    Luka Fitto Buba & John Bathrobas Dakagan

  2. Faculty of Environmental Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, 43400, Selangor, Malaysia

    Nura Umar Kura

  3. Department of Environmental Science, Federal University Dutse, P.M.B 7156 FUD, Dutse, Jigawa, Nigeria

    Nura Umar Kura

Authors
  1. Luka Fitto Buba
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  2. Nura Umar Kura
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  3. John Bathrobas Dakagan
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Correspondence to Nura Umar Kura.

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Buba, L.F., Kura, N.U. & Dakagan, J.B. Spatiotemporal trend analysis of changing rainfall characteristics in Guinea Savanna of Nigeria. Model. Earth Syst. Environ. 3, 1081–1090 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-017-0356-2

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