Characterizing river discharge along River Niger using complexity–entropy causality plane

Water resources planning and management is critical for socio-economic, conflict resolution, and agricultural purposes within the Niger Basin. Understanding the river system requires techniques which will capture the dynamical phases and regimes of river discharge. In this study, the characteristics of River Niger were investigated using the complexity–entropy plane at three stations along the river course. This method allows for the dynamical characterization of a time series as either periodic, stochastic, or chaotic. The permutation entropy and statistical complexity values of the original river discharge data were found in the range of 0 . 44 − 0 . 63 and 0 . 30 − 0 . 34 respectively. Detrending of river discharge time series was found to increase the permutation entropy. Detrended river discharge at Niamey was reported to follow a fractional Brownian motion with Hurst exponent of 0.45. Using a 3-year shifting window, the complexity–entropy plane was found to identify different characteristics of river discharge driven by drought and dam construction. Results obtained can be used by relevant agencies for planning and monitoring of water resources across different rivers in West Africa.