Air Quality Index Prediction Using Machine Learning Algorithms for Certain Locations in Nigeria

Prediction of air quality index for certain locations in Nigeria has been carried out. The data used for this research was gotten from purple air data web site. The locations selected are; University of Ibadan, Edo Broadcasting station, Kogi, Nimet, Benin, Lekki phase1 in Lagos and Space center, Kebbi. Air quality Index was calculated based on PM2.5 data obtained from the purple air website. The other variables obtained are PM10, PM1, Temperature and Humidity. The machine learning algorithms used for modelling are linear regression, support vector machines (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and regression trees. These algorithms were obtained using R programming language. The results show that for University of Ibadan station. AQI increased towards the end of 2021 up till the end of February 2022. There was a steady decrease in AQI towards the end of May 2022. For Edo Broadcasting station, AQI increased towards the end of 2021 up till the end of February 2022. There was a steady decrease in AQI towards the end of May 2022. There was an increase after May 2022. For Kogi station, AQI increased towards the end of October 2021 up till the end of February 2022. There was a steady decrease in AQI in April 2022. For Lekki phase 1, Lagos station, AQI increased from April 2021 towards the end of December 2021. There was a steady decrease in AQI towards the end of April 2022. For Nimet, Benin station, AQI increased steadily from October 2021 up till the end of February 2022. There was a steady decrease in AQI towards the end of April 2022 and a slight increase in May 2022. For Space center, Kebbi station, AQI decreased steadily from August 2021 up till the end of February 2022. There was a steady increase of AQI in March 2022 and a slight decrease in May 2022. AQI shows that the quality of air in Ibadan was classified as good, Edo broadcasting and Nimet, Benin were unhealthy for sensitive groups while Kogi, Space center Kebbi and Lagos were classified as moderate. Modelling result shows that of all the machine learning model selected for this research work, K-nearest neighbors was found to be the best model for the prediction of AQI across Nigeria. This is because it had the smallest value for the errors. Hence for the prediction of AQI in Nigeria, KNN is recommended.