Morphometric Analysis and Terrain Evaluation of the Lower Niger River Basin, Nigeria

The quantitative geomorphological analysis of the lower Niger River basin in Nigeria was carried out in other to evaluate the drainage morphology, the stream order, drainage density, and the slope analysis on the basis of acquired satellite imagery. The study indicates that analysis of morphometric parameters with the aid of Geographic Information System (GIS) would prove a viable method of characterizing the hydrological response behaviour of the watershed. It is also well observed that remote sensing satellite data is emerging as the most effective, time saving and accurate technique for morphometric analysis of a basin. This technique is found relevant for the extraction of river basin and its stream networks through Nigeria (DEM) in conjunction with remote sensing satellite data. In this study, lower Niger River basin and its tributaries have been selected for detailed geomorphological analysis using ArcGIS software. There are six different stream orders within the drainage basin, the first, second, third, and fourth flow into the fifth stream order. This is affected by the slope of the river basin. The fifth order flows in the northeast direction as it flows outside the river basin. The slope also dictates the flow pattern and direction of smaller streams that are tributaries of larger streams and they determine the volume of water in the larger streams and the drainage basin.