Student Number: 0201936W -
MSc research report -
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Sciences -
Faculty of Science / Tropospheric ozone over southern Africa is characterised using the Southern Africa
Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI) 2000 aircraft datasets collected from surface to
just above the boundary layer, and satellite remotely sensed ozone column depth.
Ozonesonde datasets for Irene, South Africa; Lusaka, Zambia; Nairobi and Malindi,
both Kenyan stations were, used to supplement the aircraft and satellite data. The period
studied is the dry biomass burning season between August and September, 2000
Source areas of ozone precursors have been identified by trajectory analysis. Fivepoint,
back trajectory clusters in the region reveal well-defined air mass transport
corridors. Enhanced ozone concentrations, above 70 ppb, were regularly encountered in
the lower troposphere (3.5 km above ground level) in air masses distributed over the
sub-region by distinct re-circulation pathways, which prevailed during the study period.
Occasional, episodes of significant higher ozone pollution, above 100 ppbv are
identified.
Savannah fire products transported from seasonal biomass burning regions of
western Zambia, northern Zimbabwe and Mozambique have been found to be the major
sources of ozone pollution over the sub-region. Another source, though on a lesser
scale, is the Highveld industrial region of South Africa.
In situ air observations established that the western and eastern sectors of the
southern Africa, north of 23°S latitude, were the major sources of regional ozone
precursor gases. The regions southwards of 23°S were observed to have lower ozone
pollution.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/1787 |
| Date | 16 November 2006 |
| Creators | Bundi, Peter Miriti |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 2462243 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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