Geo-information Study of the Spatiotemporal Growth of Karu, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

For the past few decades, Nigerian towns and cities have been growing rapidly due largely to rural urban migration. Accordingly, Karu area in Nasarawa state, North-Central Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented growth particularly since Nigeria’s seat of government was relocated from Lagos to Abuja, and the consequent influx of migrants from all over the country. This raises the quest to quantify, determine the rate and map, the growth pattern of the area. This study demonstrates the usefulness of remotely sensed data and geo-information technologies to provide answers on spatial growth of the area using Erdas Imagine 9.1 and ArcGIS 9.3 GIS softwares as analytical tools. Results from this study indicates that the area grew from a mere 64.7907 km2 in 1973 to 207.5364 km2 in 2009, with an annual growth rates of 0.6251km2, 4.1666km2, and 8.0453km2 between 1973 to 1986, 1986 to 1999, and 1999 to 2009 respectively, with significant spatiotemporal variability in a linear pattern along Abuja-Keffi highway.

Keywords: Remote sensing, Geographic Information System, Spatiotemporal, Urban growth, Karu area