Challenges and opportunities in the design and construction of a GIS-based emission inventory infrastructure for the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 24; no. 8; pp. 7788 - 7808
• Main Authors: Fagbeja, Mofoluso A., Hill, Jennifer L., Chatterton, Tim J., Longhurst, James W. S., Akpokodje, Joseph E., Agbaje, Ganiy I., Halilu, Shaba A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-03-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Air pollution; Air quality; Anthropogenic factors; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Carbon dioxide; Carbon Dioxide - analysis; Developing countries; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Emission; Emission inventories; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental legislation; Environmental monitoring; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Environmental science; Geographic Information Systems; Infrastructure; LDCs; Low income areas; Nigeria; Pollutants; Pollution monitoring; Pollution sources; Remote sensing; Research Article; Satellite navigation systems; Uncertainty; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Nigeria; Niger Delta; ASE, Nigeria, Rivers, Niger Delta; Emission inventory; GIS; Infrastructure; Air quality; Nigeria; Greenhouse gases; Niger Delta
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-017-8481-z
• EISSN: 1614-7499
• ISSN: 0944-1344

Environmental monitoring in middle- and low-income countries is hampered by many factors which include enactment and enforcement of legislations; deficiencies in environmental data reporting and documentation; inconsistent, incomplete and unverifiable data; a lack of access to data; and technical expertise. This paper describes the processes undertaken and the major challenges encountered in the construction of the first Niger Delta Emission Inventory (NDEI) for criteria air pollutants and CO
2
released from the anthropogenic activities in the region. This study focused on using publicly available government and research data. The NDEI has been designed to provide a Geographic Information System-based component of an air quality and carbon management framework. The NDEI infrastructure was designed and constructed at 1-, 10- and 20-km grid resolutions for point, line and area sources using industry standard processes and emission factors derived from activities similar to those in the Niger Delta. Due to inadequate, incomplete, potentially inaccurate and unavailable data, the infrastructure was populated with data based on a series of best possible assumptions for key emission sources. This produces outputs with variable levels of certainty, which also highlights the critical challenges in the estimation of emissions from a developing country. However, the infrastructure is functional and has the ability to produce spatially resolved emission estimates.