Sota River


The Sota is a river of northern Benin flowing through the departments of Borgou and Alibori. It is a tributary of the Niger River and the Tassiné River is one of its tributaries. The river is approximately in length and covers a basin area of.

Geography

The Sota rises northeast of the town of Ndali in the Borgou Department. The river runs toward the north-north-east and empties into the Niger River at Malanville.

Rainfall

The annual precipitation has been recorded at several stations in the basin of the Sota:
  • Segbana : spread over 53 days.
  • Kandi :, spread over 80 days
  • Malanville : in 53 days
There is everywhere a large surplus rainfall from July to September, giving rise to violent floods, but the deficit is a severe dry season from December to April.

Hydrometry

The flow of the river has been observed for 40 years at the hydro station in Couberi, located near its confluence with the Niger River at Malanville.
At Couberi, the average annual flow module or observed during this period was for an area taking into account. The monthly average flows observed from February to April are from, which is quite remarkable in Africa at its discretion, with other rivers in the region falling consistently enough to nearly dry up in the dry season. It is true that the level of rainfall of per year is very consistent. On the observation period of 40 years, the minimum monthly flow was while the maximum monthly flow amounted to which is more than the average flow of the Seine in Paris.
;Average monthly flows of Sota measured at the hydrometric station Couberi.

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