Analysis of land use change and its impact on channel morphology of Ginzo River Basin, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The study examined land use change and its impact on channel morphology of Ginzo basin. Multi-decadal (1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020) Landsat imageries were rectified for radiometric and geometric errors, classified, and analyzed to assess land use change, river channel area, length, channel width, centerline migration area, and distance using the ArcGIS software. The results show an increase in the built-up area, bare land, and water bodies by 21.9%, 27.7%, and 1.1% respectively between 1980 and 2020. Farmland and forest, however, decreased by 11.1% and 38.2%. River channel area, length, and width increased and decreased over the study period. The center line migrated eastward in the upstream and midstream while shifting westward in the downstream sections. Variations in channel area were attributed to the forest and bare land, constituting 86% and 14%, respectively. Changes in channel length were influenced by farmland, bare land, built-up area, and water bodies contributing 32.8%, 30.8%, 8.6%, and 27.8%, respectively. Channel width adjustments were explained by farmland and the built-up area contributing 70.9% and 29.1%, respectively. Forest and farmland constitute 52.8% and 48.2% of variations in river migration area. Conclusively, Land use impact models aid in predicting channel adjustments, offering insights for river basin management.

KEYWORDS:

• Land use
• morphological response
• Katsina
• remote sensing
• Ginzo

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).