Remote Sensing and GIS Applications in Disaster Risk Reduction in Sokoto State

Sokoto State in North West Nigeria faces multi-hazard disaster risks including flooding, drought, windstorms, and dust storms that annually displace thousands of residents and destroy agricultural assets. This study examines the application of remote sensing and GIS in building a multi-hazard disaster risk database for Sokoto State. Hazard maps for flooding, drought, and land degradation are produced from Landsat, Sentinel-1 SAR, and MODIS datasets. Each hazard layer is combined with vulnerability data including population density, poverty index, and building material quality to generate composite risk maps at the LGA level. Temporal flood event data from 2016 to 2023 are used to validate the flood hazard layer. Results identify the Goronyo, Bodinga, and Tangaza LGAs as highest overall multi-hazard risk zones. An integrated disaster risk reduction spatial framework is proposed for adoption by the Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency. The framework aligns with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. Keywords: disaster risk, remote sensing, GIS, multi-hazard, Sokoto State