Development of Rainfall Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curves for Climate-Resilient Water Resource Management in Suleja, Nigeria

Abstract

As the world grapples with the devastating impacts of climate change, hydrometeorological extremes like heatwaves, cyclones, droughts,  and floods have become the newnorm. Amongthese, flooding stands out as one of the most destructive natural hazards of our time,  wreakinghavoc on communities and ecosystems alike. In response, this study aimed to developrainfall intensity-duration-frequency (IDF)  curves for Suleja Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria, to form effective water resource management and infrastructure  planning. By analyzingrainfall data from three sources - the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), the ClimateHazards Group InfraRed  Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS), and the Global SatelliteMapping of Precipitation (GSMAP) - we uncovered crucial  insights into the region's rainfall patterns. Findings revealed that shorter duration rainfall events have shorter return periods,  withmaximum intensities reaching 485 mm/hr (GSMAP), 180 mm/hr (CHIRPS), and 300mm/hr(NIMET) with a 2-year return period. This  result highlights the significant variability inrainfall characteristics across multiple datasets, stressing the importance of considering both  durationandintensity in rainfall pattern evaluations to form robust and efficient engineering solutions. Thestudy's results have far- reaching implications for stakeholders in the water sector, includingpolicymakers, urban planners, and water resource managers. The  increased frequencyandintensity of short-duration rainfall events necessitate the development of targeted infrastructureand water  management strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Moreover, ourfindings emphasize the critical need for robust and  reliable IDF curves to support theimplementation of effective climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction measures.