MONITORING THE TRENDS OF ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTANTS (CO AND HCHO) IN EDO STATE USING SENTINEL-5P AND GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE FROM 2018 - 2023

Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the concentrations of Carbon monoxide (CO) and Formaldehyde (HCHO) in Edo State. Secondary data collection method was used for the assessment, levels of carbon monoxide (CO) and Formaldehyde (HCHO) was extracted annually from Google Earth Engine using information from Sentinel-5-P satellite data (COPERNISCUS/S5P/NRTI/L3_). A comparison of the levels of Carbon monoxide (CO) and Formaldehyde (HCHO) was done from the year 2018 to the year 2023. Results showed that the annual mean concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) ranged from ‘0.0467056 mol/m²’ to ‘0.05341641 mol/m²’, the highest concentrations were found in the year 2018 and the lowest were found in the year 2023; the implications of this higher concentration is that it may lead to respiratory diseases, lung cancer, heart diseases and damage to other organs. Annual mean concentrations of Formaldehyde (HCHO) ranged from ‘0.000189265 mol/m²’ to ‘0.00021871 mol/m²’ which may be due to biomass burning and methane combustion, and can cause nasopharyngeal cancer in humans. Constant monitoring of the air quality and atmospheric pollutants to ensure early detection of a decrease or increase in the concentration of atmospheric pollutants, implementation of an air pollution control policies, spatial data collection, air quality modelling, hotspot identification and source distribution using the geographic information system (GIS), promotion of cleaner technologies including the use of low-emission vehicles, renewable energy sources, energy efficient processes, public awareness and education on the impact of atmospheric pollutants and the human contributions to the increasing production of atmospheric pollutants is recommended.