Author(s)

O. Ideki^*, V. E. Weli

Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

The importance of rainfall variability in successfully understanding the dynamics of climate change in any region cannot be overemphasized. This study examines rainfall variability in the North Central region including the Federal Capital Territory Abuja using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) application. The study employed satellite data basically from near real time data of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Thereafter, the point data of rainfall was clipped to the shape file of Nigeria Boundary and interpolation using Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) was done to generate rainfall spatial maps from 2000-2017. The result reveal high temporal variation in rainfall particularly Niger, Plateau, Benue and Nassarawa states. The study therefore recommends close monitoring of periodic pattern of rainfall characteristics in the region by the Nigerian meteorological agency and to encourage farmers into drought tolerant and irrigation farming.

Rainfall, Variability, Climate Change, Remote Sensing, GIS North Central Nigeria

Ideki, O. and Weli, V. (2019) Analysis of Rainfall Variability Using Remote Sensing and GIS in North Central Nigeria. Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, 9, 191-201. doi: 10.4236/acs.2019.92013.