Analysis of micro climatic variations in Jimeta-Yola, Nigeria

This study investigates the micro climatic variations in Jimeta-Yola in northern Nigeria. Ten stations were established in various locations within the town for the measurement of temperature and relative humidity. The measurement exercises were conducted in three phases in February, April and September of the year 2001 representing harmattan, dry and wet seasons respectively. Each phase of the observation was conducted simultaneously with that of Federal University of Technology, Yola (FUTY) weather station which formed the rural control site. Analysis of variance technique (ANOVA) was used to assess the variation of temperature within the city. Student t test was employed to assess the difference between the city and rural temperatures while Correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between temperature, micro relief and population density of the city. ANOVA results indicate that there is significant variation in temperature within the city in all the seasons. The results of correlation analysis revealed that relief does not have significant influence on the micro climate of the area. On the other hand, population density was found to be the major factor responsible for variations in micro climate. Comparison of the rural and urban temperatures shows that temperature in the city is higher in February and April indicating an urban heat island effect of 30 C and 6 0 C respectively. The difference in September ( a wet month) is however, not significant because of the greater amount of cloud cover over the city. Consistent higher temperatures and lower relative humidity values in the city centre are attributed to greater heat absorption and storage capacity of the city structures. Key Words: micro-climate, urban heat island, temperature, humidity, Urban climate. (Global Journal of Social Sciences: 2003 2 (1): 79-88