Flood Frequency Analysis of River Niger, Shintaku Gauging Station, Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study outlines a frequency distribution study on the highest annual flood statistics in Niger River located at Shintaku hydrologic Station for period of 58years. In order to determine the optimal model for highest annual flood analysis Generalised extreme value, Log normal, Gumbel maximum, Generalised Pareto and Log Pearson III, were tested. Based on error produced by criteria of goodness of Fit tests, the optimal model was determined. Results obtained indicated that Log Pearson type III was best to model maximum flood magnitude of Niger River at Shintaku station. The flood frequency curve was therefore derived using Log Pearson type III frequency distribution. Flood frequency curve showed that return periods of 50 and 100 years with the probabilities of 2% and1% respectively, yielded discharges of 15300m3/s and 15600m3/s respectively. These results were strongly influenced by their topographical, geographical and climatic factors. The findings of this work will be useful for design engineers in deciding the dimension of hydraulic structures such as spillway, dams, canals, bridges and levees among others. Future studies are required to include flood forecasting in the development of inundation maps for Niger River.Keywords—Return period, Frequency Distribution, Flood, Niger River, Flood Modeling