AN ASSESSMENT OF `VARIABILITY OF BIOCLIMATIC CONDITIONS WITHIN KADUNA METROPOLIS, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.

Ariko, J.D.¹*, Sawa, B.A.¹, Abdulhamed, I.A.², Aruya, E.I.¹ and Abdulsalam, A.J.¹

This study compared bioclimatic conditions using thermohygrometric Index (THI) between urban and rural control stations in Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria. Temperature/Relative Humidity USB-data loggers were used for data acquisition for one month. 1hour mean thermohygrometric indices for urban core and control station were subjected to Student “t” test to determine if there is significant difference in bioclimatic conditions between the two sampled sites. The “t” test results showed a significant difference in bioclimatic conditions between the urban core and the control station at 0.05 statistical significance level. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was employed to test the temporal variability in bioclimatic conditions in the two sampled sites. The Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results showed a significant difference in bioclimatic conditions between different times of the day at 0.05 statistical significance level. Both very hot and hot bioclimatic conditions were predominant in the urban core with few cases of torrid condition. In the control station, hot condition is the dominant category with few instances of comfortable condition. These imply that the rural environment is relatively more livable than the urban environment in terms of bioclimatic conditions.

Key words: Bioclimatic conditions, Kaduna metropolis, Thermohygrometric variability