ABSTRACT
Air pollution is a primary environmental problem
in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria due to oil spills including the gas
emissions associated with industrial effluents. However, a good understanding
and quantification of atmospheric parameters (wind speed, wind direction,
temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and cloud cover) that influence
air pollution (CH4, NO2 and O3) concentrations
in this region could assist in the mitigation and distribution of these
pollutants. This work examines the influence of atmospheric parameters on the
production and distribution of air pollutants in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria
for the development of control strategies that will enhance the mitigation and
amelioration of the significant impacts that these atmospheric pollutants could
have on the populace in this part of the country. The CH4 and NO2 data utilized in this study were sourced from the European Space Agency (ESA),
while that of tropospheric ozone (O3) was obtained from the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the atmospheric parameters
data were provided by the Nigeria Meteorological Agencies (NIMET), Lagos. The
analysis of the daily pollutants (CH4, NO2 and O3)
including the atmospheric parameters in this region of the Niger Delta for the
period 2003 to 2010 was carried out using standard statistical approach including the graphical method, stepwise
regression model, least-square method, and correlation analysis. The
Mann-Kendal rank statistics was also utilized in identifying the meaningful
long-term trends, validation and testing of the homogeneity of the concentrations
of the pollutants. The results of the correlations of CH4, NO2 and O3 concentrations with their previous day’s concentrations
showed a strong significance in regression analysis for both CH4 and
O3. The coefficient of determination of CH4 and O3 was
obtained as 0.654 and 0.810 respectively, while a very weak correlation was
obtained for NO2. However, despite that a very strong negative
correlation of -0.809 and -0.900 was obtained between wind speed and both the
CH4 and O3 pollutants respectively, a moderate
correlation was obtained between the wind speed and NO2. This implies
that amongst the atmospheric parameters considered in this study for the region
of the Niger Delta in Nigeria, wind speed has much influence on the variation
of both CH4 and O3 concentrations, but with a little
influence on the NO2 concentrations.