@article{AnsahAbuKleemannetal.2022,
  author    = {Ansah, Christabel Edena and Abu, Itohan-Osa and Kleemann, Janina and Mahmoud, Mahmoud Ibrahim and Thiel, Michael},
  title     = {Environmental contamination of a biodiversity hotspot — action needed for nature conservation in the Niger Delta, Nigeria},
  series = {Sustainability},
  volume    = {14},
  journal   = {Sustainability},
  number    = {21},
  issn      = {2071-1050},
  doi       = {10.3390/su142114256},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-297214},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The Niger Delta belongs to the largest swamp and mangrove forests in the world hosting many endemic and endangered species. Therefore, its conservation should be of highest priority. However, the Niger Delta is confronted with overexploitation, deforestation and pollution to a large extent. In particular, oil spills threaten the biodiversity, ecosystem services, and local people. Remote sensing can support the detection of spills and their potential impact when accessibility on site is difficult. We tested different vegetation indices to assess the impact of oil spills on the land cover as well as to detect accumulations (hotspots) of oil spills. We further identified which species, land cover types, and protected areas could be threatened in the Niger Delta due to oil spills. The results showed that the Enhanced Vegetation Index, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index were more sensitive to the effects of oil spills on different vegetation cover than other tested vegetation indices. Forest cover was the most affected land-cover type and oil spills also occurred in protected areas. Threatened species are inhabiting the Niger Delta Swamp Forest and the Central African Mangroves that were mainly affected by oil spills and, therefore, strong conservation measures are needed even though security issues hamper the monitoring and control.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{MahmoudDukerConradetal.2016,
  author    = {Mahmoud, Mahmoud Ibrahim and Duker, Alfred and Conrad, Christopher and Thiel, Michael and Ahmad, Halilu Shaba},
  title     = {Analysis of Settlement Expansion and Urban Growth Modelling Using Geoinformation for Assessing Potential Impacts of Urbanization on Climate in Abuja City, Nigeria},
  series = {Remote Sensing},
  volume    = {8},
  journal   = {Remote Sensing},
  number    = {3},
  doi       = {10.3390/rs8030220},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-146644},
  pages     = {220},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {This study analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern of settlement expansion in Abuja, Nigeria, one of West Africa's fastest developing cities, using geoinformation and ancillary datasets. Three epochs of Land-use Land-cover (LULC) maps for 1986, 2001 and 2014 were derived from Landsat images using support vector machines (SVM). Accuracy assessment (AA) of the LULC maps based on the pixel count resulted in overall accuracy of 82\%, 92\% and 92\%, while the AA derived from the error adjusted area (EAA) method stood at 69\%, 91\% and 91\% for 1986, 2001 and 2014, respectively. Two major techniques for detecting changes in the LULC epochs involved the use of binary maps as well as a post-classification comparison approach. Quantitative spatiotemporal analysis was conducted to detect LULC changes with specific focus on the settlement development pattern of Abuja, the federal capital city (FCC) of Nigeria. Logical transitions to the urban category were modelled for predicting future scenarios for the year 2050 using the embedded land change modeler (LCM) in the IDRISI package. Based on the EAA, the result showed that urban areas increased by more than 11\% between 1986 and 2001. In contrast, this value rose to 17\% between 2001 and 2014. The LCM model projected LULC changes that showed a growing trend in settlement expansion, which might take over allotted spaces for green areas and agricultural land if stringent development policies and enforcement measures are not implemented. In conclusion, integrating geospatial technologies with ancillary datasets offered improved understanding of how urbanization processes such as increased imperviousness of such a magnitude could influence the urban microclimate through the alteration of natural land surface temperature. Urban expansion could also lead to increased surface runoff as well as changes in drainage geography leading to urban floods.},
  language  = {en}
}