Analysis of Pollution in the Niger Delta

Since 1957, the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta became an important source of revenue for the Nigerian government. Unfortunately, this resource is being exploited and resulting in pollution. So, does recent Landsat imagery illustrate the present continuation of this pollution? Clearly, there is evidence of air and water oil pollution; it can be identified using current January 1, 2015, data from Landsat 8 imagery paths 187, 188 and row 57. This can be done by manipulating band composites to illustrate gas flares in Short-Wave Infrared bands I & II as well as the red band; a normalized difference water index ratio (Green-NIR/Green+NIR) can also be applied to show the difference between biomass (i.e., fish populations). Thus, evaluating brightness values and spectral reflectance graphs will illustrate irrefutable evidence that large corporations such as Royal Dutch Shell are polluting both water and air in the Niger Delta; they are destroying the environment and social stability of the residents in the region by practicing unsustainable methods of extracting oil.