Flood Flow Probability Distribution Model Selection on Niger/Benue River Basins in Nigeria

Flood frequency analysis is a crucial component of flood risk management which seeks to establish a quantile relationship between peak discharges and their exceedance (or non-exceedance) probabilities, for planning, design and management of infrastructure in river basins. This paper evaluates the performance of five probability distribution models using the method of moments for parameter estimation, with five GoF-tests and Q-Q plots for selection of best –fit- distribution. The probability distributions models employed are; Gumbel (EV1), 2-parameter lognormal (LN2), log Pearson type III (LP3), Pearson type III(PR3), and Generalised Extreme Value( GEV). The five statistical goodness – of – fit tests, namely; modified index of agreement (Dmod), relative root mean square error (RRMSE), Nash – Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), Percent bias (PBIAS), ratio of RMSE and standard deviation of the measurement (RSR) were used to identify the most suitable distribution models. The study was conducted using annual maximum series of nine gauge stations in both Benue and Niger River Basins in Nigeria. The study reveals that GEV was the best – fit distribution in six gauging stations, LP3 was best – fit distribution in two gauging stations, and PR3 is best- fit distribution in one gauging station. This study has provided a significant contribution to knowledge in the choice of distribution models for predicting extreme hydrological events for design of water infrastructure in Nigeria. It is recommended that GEV, PR3 and LP3 should be considered in the development of regional flood frequency using the existing hydrological map of Nigeria.