Hydrologic and morphometric analysis of Ofu River Sub-Basin using remote sensing and Geographic Information System

The morphometric characteristics of a river basin are very important factors in watershed hydrology. The morphometric analysis of the Ofu River sub-basin was carried out in this study to assess its morphologic and hydrological characteristics as well as its flood potentials based on the morphological characteristics. The study was carried out using remotely sensed spatial data analysed using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The morphometric parameters analysed were the areal, linear, and relief aspects of the sub-basin. The results showed that Ofu river sub-basin covers a total area of 1604.56 km2 and a perimeter of 556.98 km covering parts of Kogi and Enugu States in Nigeria. The sub-basin has 3rd order river network based on the Strahler’sclassification with a dendritic drainage pattern and moderate drainage texture. The values of bifurcation ratio, drainage density, circularity ratio, elongation ratio, form factor, stream frequency and drainage intensity indicate that the sub-basin is elongated and would produce a flatter peak of direct runoff for a longer duration implying that the sub-basin is morphometrically less susceptible to flood and that any flood flow that may emanate from it would be easy to manage.