Estimating Groundwater Recharge in Areas with Little Data and Water Scarcity: A Case Study of Yobe State, Nigeria

Estimating Groundwater Recharge in Areas with Little Data and Water Scarcity: A Case Study of Yobe State, Nigeria | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Estimating Groundwater Recharge in Areas with Little Data and Water Scarcity: A Case Study of Yobe State, Nigeria Martins Olatoye Arowolo, Omoyemwen Alison HARRISON, Akinbobola Thomas OGUNDIRAN, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8699111/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Groundwater recharge estimation is critical for sustainable groundwater management, particularly in data-scarce and water-stressed environments. This study applies an observation-constrained Land Surface Model (LSM) approach using NASA’s Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) Noah product (2004–2024) to estimate groundwater recharge in Yobe State, Nigeria. Spatial and temporal analyses of surface runoff, subsurface runoff, precipitation, and soil moisture were conducted alongside Land Use Land Cover (LULC) assessments (2020 to 2024). Results show that recharge constitutes only 5 to 15% of annual rainfall, with pronounced spatial heterogeneity: higher recharge rates occur in the south eastern cropland and floodplain zones, while the arid northwest experiences minimal recharge. The findings highlight that rainfall alone is not a sufficient predictor of groundwater replenishment; instead, recharge is strongly controlled by soil texture, infiltration, and land cover dynamics. This cost effective approach demonstrates the applicability of satellite-based LSMs in semi-arid regions with limited hydrological data and provides a scalable framework for sustainable water resource management in Nigeria and similar settings. Geology Hydrology Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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