Earth Observation System-Based Impact Assessment of 2012 Flood in Delta State Nigeria

Abstract

Flooding is one of the most serious natural hazards in the world. It has become a common natural disaster which has claimed many lives, displaced millions and resulted to the destruction of properties and degradation of contiguous farmland.  Though over the decades the people of Delta state have had to contend with sporadic overflows from the river but not in the scale of 2012 flood event. Flood in 2012, submerged coastal villages, displaced millions of people, submerged several square kilometers of land,  disrupt economic activities and properties worth of millions of naira was lost. This study was provoked based on the fact that since the disaster, no reliable investigation and inventory has been made as a guide for mitigation for future occurrence. Currently Earth observing system (EOS) is gaining popularity in solving many environmental problems due to its accurate and timely delivery of information required for decision making. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine the impact of 2012 flood in delta state.  Pre-flood and flood imageries captured by and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometre (MODIS), Land sat imagery with resolution 30m, SRTM with resolution 30 arc second, questionnaire, interview, Global positioning system (GPS)  and geographic information system (GIS) was used for data collection and analysis. The map generated from the non-flood image captured on 20th October 2010 was used as a reference to determine the extent of flooding from the disaster image. Spatial impact was determined based on the extent of the submerged land territory while physical economic impact was measured based on property damages. This study revealed that a total landed area of 2185Sq.kms was covered by flood excluding the original extent of the river. Further assessment  revealed that 785000 people were affected, crops worth’s 3.1 billion naira were destroyed, 231 communities in 12 local government of the 25 local government areas were adversely affected these include 118 communities market, 743 market stalls, 220 primary schools, 84 secondary schools, 435 fish farms, 526 poultry farms, 58 piggeries and 5099 houses. Keywords: key words, MODIS, SRTM, Flood,  Hazard, Imagery DOI : 10.7176/CER/12-9-08 Publication date :September 30th 2020