TECHNICAL PAPERS
Mar 15, 2011

Rainfall and Water Resources of a Coastal Basin of Ghana

Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 16, Issue 4

Abstract

Temporal distributions as well as spatial variability of rainfall have been investigated within the Densu River basin in Ghana to determine the duration pattern of rainfall events and their intensities and how these affect the partitioning of rainfall into overland flow and infiltration. Also, the use of daily rainfall data (mm/day) as inputs in physically based hydrological models for water balance computation and description of hydrological processes in the basin was assessed in relation to the actual duration of rainfall events in the basin. The threshold intensities for groundwater recharge in the Birimian, Granite, and Togo formation soils are below 70mm/h, 85mm/h, and 95mm/h, respectively, and above 10mm/h in the entire basin. The amount of rainfall infiltrating into the groundwater system will diminish in the future because of the imminent effects of climate change on the intensity of rainfall events.

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Acknowledgments

The study was financed and supervised by The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and supported by the Water Resources Commission of Ghana and the Ghana Meteorological Agency.

REFERENCES

Adu, S. V., and Asiamah, R. D. (1992). “Soil of the Ayensu/Densu basin of Ghana.” Soil Research Institute, Kwadaso-Kumasi, Ghana.
Alfa, B., Hasholt, B., Banong-Yakubo, B., and Jørgensen, N. O. (2008). “Unsaturated zone heterogeneity and land use/cover on groundwater recharge—A case study of the Densu basin.” Proc. IAHS Int. Conf., Water Down Under, 2581-2592.
Dunne, T. (1978). “Field studies of hillslope flow processes.” Hillslope hydrology, M. J. Kirkby, ed., Wiley, Chichester, UK.
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Haan, C. T., Barfield, B. J., and Hayes, J. C. (1994). Design hydrology and sedimentology for small catchments, Academic Press, New York.
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Johst, M., Uhlenbrook, S., Tilch, N., Zillgens, B., Didszun, J., and Kirnbauer, R. (2008). “An attempt of process-oriented rainfall-runoff modelling using multiple-response data in an alpine catchment, Loehnersbach, Austria.” Hydrol. Res., 39(1), 1–16.
MIKE SHE [Computer software]. (1980). Denmark, Danish Hydraulic Institute.
Tumbulto, J. W. (2005) “A study of water balance of the Pompon sub-basin of the Densu river basin.” Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
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Published In

Go to Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 16Issue 4April 2011
Pages: 316 - 323

History

Received: Apr 20, 2010
Accepted: Aug 21, 2010
Published online: Mar 15, 2011
Published in print: Apr 1, 2011

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Authors

Affiliations

Engineer, Water Resources Commission of Ghana, P. O. Box CT 5630, Accra, Ghana (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
B. Hasholt
Professor, Institute of Geography and Geology, Univ. of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350, Denmark.
N. O. Jørgensen
Professor, Institute of Geography and Geology, Univ. of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350, Denmark.
B. Banoeng-Yakubo
Professor, Dept. of Geology, Univ. of Ghana, P.O. Box 58, Legon, Accra, Ghana.

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