The effect of urbanization on some characteristics of relative humidity in Ibadan

✍ Scribed by Adebayo, Yinka R.

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1987
• Weight: 543 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 2314-6214
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.3370070608

✦ Synopsis

Examined in this work was the effect of urbanization on some aspects of the diurnal, seasonal and spatial patterns of relative humidity in Ibadan. Two approaches were adopted in the analyses. Firstly, a rural-site station was used as a control, while its 20-year (1961-1980) data were compared with those of the two urban-located stations. Secondly, isoline maps of the spatial patterns were produced. In doing this, occasional, diurnal recordings were carried out at strategic locations over a period of 1 year.

The analyses show that relative humidity was lower within the city than in the rural area. The mean difference varied from 2 to 3 per cent at 0900 h to about 10 per cent at 1500 h. There was a seasonal trend in this difference. While there was virtually no difference by 0900 h and a difference ofjust about 5 per cent existed at 1500 h at the peak of the wet season, the situation at the height of the dry season was different. By then, whereas the relative humidity was about 3-6 per cent lower in the urban area at 0900 h, the difference was about 12 17 per cent at 1500 h. The isoline maps also reflect the diurnal and seasonal patterns, and the attenuation of relative humidity with increase in the intensity of urbanization. The analyses d o not confirm there was any significant decrease in relative humidity, over time, as a result of the impact of the city-growth.