Monitoring of SO2 and NO2 Levels around a Gas Flow Station in the Sub-Saharan Region Using Sentinel 5P Satellite Data

Abstract

This research was carried out to monitor the NO₂ and SO₂ (Nitrogen and Sulfur IV oxides) levels around the Oben gas flow station in Edo State, Southern Nigeria, using remote sensing data. Secondary data was collected from the Sentinel 5P satellite and processed using Google Earth Pro, ArcMap, Google Earth Engine, and Microsoft Excel to determine the concentrations of the pollutants of interest in the study area for 2019 and 2020. In 2019 and 2020, the maximum mean values for SO₂ were 3.99 E-5 mol/m² and 4.26 E-5 mol/m², respectively, and for NO₂, the maximum mean values were 6.63 E-5 mol/m² and 6.88 E-5 mol/m², respectively. For the seasonal variations in concentrations of pollutants, there was p > 0.05 (no significant differences) in the seasonal variation between the concentrations of SO₂ in 2019 (t (5) = 1.410) and 2020 (t (5) = 2.399). There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between NO₂ concentrations in the wet and dry seasons for 2019 (t (5) = 5.719) and 2020 (t (5) = 5.991). Also, there was a significant variation between the concentrations of NO₂ in 2019 and 2020 at p > 0.05, but not for SO₂. Based on the findings from this study, it is recommended that stricter enforcement of already existing legislation on gas flaring and finding cleaner or alternative sources of energy like biofuels and biogas, are highly needed to reduce any unforeseen health and environmental impact in this zone.