ABSTRACT
This study assesses the levels of atmospheric sulphur dioxide (SO2) in Port Harcourt and Benin City, using Sentinel-5P data from 2020 to 2022. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is a major air pollutant that can cause respiratory problems, heart disease, and other health problem. The data were obtained through the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform and processed using JavaScript code). The SO2 data were extracted as raster imagery and analysed using ArcGIS 10.4, a geographic information system (GIS) software. In this study, the concentrations of SO2 in Port Harcourt in the year 2020 had minimum, maximum and mean values of --0.000537181mol/m2 , 0.000361673mol/m2 and - 0.000101879mol/m2 respectively. The year 2021 recorded minimum, maximum and mean values of -0.00047608mol/m2 , 0.000402121mol/m2 , and -0.000137654mol/m2 respectively. The year 2022 recorded minimum, maximum and mean values of -0.000335306mol/m2 , 0.000539679mol/m2 , and 0.000046444mol/m2 . In Benin City, the concentrations of SO2 had minimum, maximum and mean values of - 0.000486017mol/m2 , 0.000466143mol/m2 and -0.000163095mol/m2 respectively, for 2020; - 0.002421883, 0.001736098 and -0.00005493 respectively for 2021; and -0.00094937mol/m2 , 0.000542827mol/m2 and -0.000007393mol/m2 respectively, for 2022. The reduction in concentration in 2020 was due to the COVID-19 lockdown, which restricted industrial activities. The full restoration of industrial activity and vehicular mobility, among other things, can be blamed for the subsequent increase in SO2 concentrations from 2021 to 2022. The absence of database correlation is a concern with this approach to data collection for SO2. This could be a result of the inverse result discovered after extracting and analysing the data. However, environmental changes and SO2 pollution should be continuously observed and recorded.
