EVALUATING CLIMATE VARIABILITY FROM RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURE: INSIGHT FROM NIAMEY AND MARADI IN NIGER

Year 2019, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 60 - 73, 30.06.2019

Makbule Nisa Mencet Yelboga , Abdoul-aziz Hamidou Taffa Cengiz Sayin

Abstract

Niger is a
landlocked West African country located between parallels 11° 37 and 23° 33
Northern latitudes, meridians 16 °East longitudes and 0 °10 West longitude. The
country covers 1,267,000 kilometers square and is divided into eight main
regions; Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Zinder, Tillabery, and Niamey.
From a climate point of view, the country has three different zones; Northern
Saharan arid zone with total annual rainfall average of 20-75 mm,
Saharan-tropical zone 75-160 mm and the Sahelian zone with 250-800 mm.
Therefore, the rainfall patterns vary from one region to another and within the
same region. This article analyzed regional climate variability in the regions
of Niamey and Maradi during 1979-2013s. To do this, intra-regional and
inter-regional variability of monthly temperature, total annual rainfall,
monthly solar radiation, monthly wind speed, and monthly relative humidity have
been evaluated by Buishand’s Test in the series analysis.  The findings a time lag in climate
variability among these two regions; all climate variables’ variability firstly
occurs in Niamey and then Maradi except for wind speed and solar radiation.  Accordingly, the region of Niamey is more
fragile than the region of Maradi. Lastly, Niger faces climate variability
which could compromise its rural small-scale farmers’ rainfed agriculture and
livestock’s activities. 

Keywords

Climate variability, Maradi, Niamey

References

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