VERTICAL VARIATION OF ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY OVER SELECTED STATIONS ACROSS NIGERIA USING SATELLITE DATA

An exponential model was developed for estimating absolute humidity. Meteorological data (temperature and relative humidity) were extracted for eight stations grouped into four selected regions across Nigeria. Monthly and Seasonal distribution of absolute humidity was calculated and analyzed for each station across the regions. The variations of absolute humidity were observed and the results showed that absolute humidity experiences seasonal trends across each station. The values of absolute humidity were high during the rainy months of April to October and low during the dry months of November to March. Values of absolute humidity were partially high during the rainy months of April to October in Coastal and Guinea Savannah regions with the observed dip in August. The absolute humidity for Midland region is relatively low throughout the year that shows the difference in the climate of the two regions. The variations obtained at Sahelian region is similar to that of Midland with single peak in June –August and July/August. The seasonal trend of variation in the Sahelian region was characterized with variations showing the maxima and the minima. The values of absolute humidity at all atmospheric pressure levels were conspicuously high during the rainy months than the dry months. It was also observed that there is exponential decreases across the stations. Validation and testing of the developed model for absolute humidity yield encouraged results on all the stations.