Geo-spatial analysis of oil spill distribution and susceptibility in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

Whanda, Shittu; Adekola, Olalekan; Adamu, Bashir; Pandey, Pandey; Ogwu, Friday; Yahaya, Sani

Abstract

Oil spill occurrence during exploration, production and distribution can cause deleterious impact on the environment. Contamination of local streams/rivers, farmlands, forest resources and biodiversity in oil producing areas presents strong significant possibility of significant harm to human health. Geo-information technologies present new opportunities for assessing stress environment and ways of determining exposure susceptibility in such areas. The study assesses the
geographical distribution of oil-spills cluster and pattern using three geospatial techniques with ground data at 443 oil-spill incident sites from 1985-2008. The places with high (high-volume/large impact/close proximity to communities) and low incident (low-volume/less impact/fardistance) are related to the quantity of oil-spills identified within those communities considered susceptible to spill impact and possible exposure. While the average nearest neighborhood analysis showed a probability that oil-spill distribution in the area is clustered (ratio < 1 with index value 0.19), the Getis-Ord General G test indicated that the oil-spill with high quantities (volume) discharge are significantly clustered within every 400 m. The Moran’s I index indicted that there is

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 21, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jun 15, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 15, 2017
• Journal: Journal of Geographic Information System
• Print ISSN: 2151-1950
• Publisher: Scientific Research Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Pages: 438-456
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/jgis.2016.84037
• Keywords: oil spills, GIS analysis, third party damage, interdiction, pollutant linkages
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/924441
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jgis.2016.84037
• Contract Date: Jun 15, 2017