Spatiotemporal Analysis of The Relationship Between Land Use/Land Cover Changes, Rainfall Variability, and Gully Erosion in Gombe Metropolis, Nigeria (1993–2023)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47514/kjg.2026.08.01.041Abstract
The research analyses the relationship between land use/ land cover, rainfall, and gully-eroded land in Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria. The study used rainfall and satellite imagery data of 30m resolution between 1993 and 2023 for the Gombe Metropolis. The research employed geospatial techniques to examine the periodic changes in gully eroded land expansion, and the Pearson correlation parametric statistical test was used in analyzing the relationship between land use/ land cover, rainfall, and gully eroded land. The results shows that there was periodic percentage increase in the area covered by gullies in the study area between 1993-1998, 1998-2003, 2008-2013, and 2013-2018 while the highest percentage increase in the extent of gullies was observed between 2008-2013 with 68.4%, followed by 19.3% between 1998-2003 and the least percentage increase in the area covered by gullies was between 1993-1998 with 6.3%. Percentage decrease in the area covered by gullies between 2003-2008 and 2018-2023, with 33.3% and 51.5%. More so, the results of correlation analysis on the relationship between the rate of erosion with rainfall and land use and land cover revealed a negative relationship between urban vegetation and rainfall. Statistically significant relationship between vegetation cover changes and erosion. The study recommends that changes in land use planning in Gombe metropolis should be made to address expansion, and drought-resistant plants like Pitadeniastrum africanum (kashe kwari or kafi kansila) can effectively help in gully erosion control.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Umar Yahaya Zakarai, Jajere Abubakar Ahmed, Richard Sunday Thlakma (Author)
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