CRUDE OIL IMPACT ON VEGETATION

ABSTRACT

This study assessed crude oil impact on vegetation in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa state using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index for five years (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021). Sentinel 2 images which fall under secondary data were used for this study, and were accessed through a software called the Google Earth Engine. A script peculiar to NDVI extraction was inputted in the engine which facilitated the extraction of these images. After the extraction of the images and download, they were analyzed and processed using the ArcGIS 10.4, which is a Geographic Information System software. In this study, 2017 had a mean NDVI value of 0.4, 0.32 for 2018, 0.44 for 2019, 0.37 for 2020 and 0.32 for 2021. This reveals an upward and downward progression of these values showing variations in vegetation cover across these years. The downward trend of NDVI value from 2017 to 2018, and from 2019 to 2020 and 2021 could be attributed to crude oil impact recorded in that season, while the rise in 2019 could be due to the absence of active oil pollution and the recovery potential of the vegetation. The problem associated with declining vegetation includes, but is not limited to; economic decline, biodiversity loss, food shortage and Global warming. The limitation associated with this method of data collection is the lack of base data for correlation, therefore there should be constant monitoring and documentation of oil spills and state of the environment in order to curb this and make NDVI more efficient and effective.