Abstract
There are several different types of sources responsible for the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and aerosols in Africa. These emissions make the African continent vulnerable to the impacts on climate change, human health and the environment. It has been shown that the southern African emissions are dominant in the winter season (JJA). However, few studies have been done to study the winter and spring season in unison to understand these emissions. Therefore, in this study, both satellite data, such as Sentinel-5P and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO), and reanalysis data from Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), were used to study emissions in the 2019 JJASO period. Furthermore, the sequential Mann-Kendall (SQMK) test was used to study the trends of SO2, CO, Angstrom exponent and UV aerosol index data during the 2019 JJASO period. The results from sentinel-5P showed the dominance of CO and NO2 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and dominance of SO2 and NO2 in the Republic of South Africa (RSA). These emissions were largely from wildfires and coal-fired power stations, respectively. However, an SO2 hot spot was also observed over the DRC region which was found to be from an active volcano. CALIPSO data agreed with these observations and further showed the maximum vertical distribution of these aerosols and gases to be at ~ 2 km. The SQMK test of Angstrom exponent and UV aerosol index showed that aerosol dominance from emissions change during the JJASO period. Therefore, studying the JJASO period does give a better understanding of emissions in southern Africa.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aumann HA, Miller CR (1995) Atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS) on the earth observing system. Proc. SPIE 2583, Advanced and Next-Generation Satellites. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.228579
Bègue N, Shikwambana L, Bencherif H, Pallotta J, Sivakumar V, Wolfram E, Mbatha N, Orte F, Du Preez DJ, Ranaivombola M, Piketh S, Formenti P (2020) Statistical analysis of the long-range transport of the 2015 Calbuco volcanic plume from ground-based and space-borne observations. Ann Geophys 38:395–420. https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-395-2020
Brauer M, Freedman G, Frostad J, van Donkelaar A, Martin RV, Dentener F, van Dingenen R, Estep K, Amini H, Apte JS, Balakrishnan K, Barregard L, Broday D, Feigin V, Ghosh S, Hopke PK, Knibbs LD, Kokubo Y, Liu Y, Ma S, Morawska L, Sangrador JLT, Shaddick G, Anderson HR, Vos T, Forouzanfar MH, Burnett RT, Cohen A (2016) Ambient air pollution exposure estimation for the Global Burden of Disease 2013. Environ Sci Technol 50:79–88. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b03709
Bryant RG, Bigg GR, Mahowald NM, Eckardt FD, Ross SG (2007) Dust emission response to climate in southern Africa. J Geophys Res 112:D09207. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD007025
Buchard V, Randles CA, da Silva AM, Darmenov A, Colarco PR, Govindaraju R, Ferrare R, Hair J, Beyersdorf AJ, Ziemba LD, Yu H (2017) The MERRA-2 aerosol reanalysis, 1980 onward. Part II: Evaluation and Case Studies. J Climate 30:6851–6872. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0613.1
Carn SA, Clarisse L, Prata AJ (2016) Multi-decadal satellite measurements of global volcanic degassing. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 311:99–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2016.01.002
Carn S, Fioletov V, McLinden C, Krotkov NA (2017) A decade of global volcanic SO2 emissions measured from space. Sci Rep 7:44095. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep44095
Dong X, Fu JS, Huang K, Lin NH, Wang SH, Yang CE (2018) Analysis of the co-existence of long-range transport biomass burning and dust in the subtropical West Pacific Region. Sci Rep 8:8962. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27129-2
Gelaro R, McCarty W, Suárez MJ, Todling R, Molod A, Takacs L, Randles CA, Darmenov A, Bosilovich MG, Reichle R, Wargan K, Coy L, Cullather R, Draper C, Akella S, Buchard V, Conaty A, da Silva AM, Gu W, Kim G, Koster R, Lucchesi R, Merkova D, Nielsen JE, Partyka G, Pawson S, Putman W, Rienecker M, Schubert SD, Sienkiewicz M, Zhao B (2017) The modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications, version 2 (MERRA-2). J Clim 30:5419–5454. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0758.1
Giglio L, Schroeder W, Justice CO (2016) The collection 6 MODIS active fire detection algorithm and fire products. Remote Sens Environ 178:31–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.02.054
Global Volcanism Program (2019) Report on Nyiragongo (DR Congo) (Bennis, K.L., and Venzke, E., eds.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network 44. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN201912-223030
Goroch A, Burk S, Davidson KL (1980) Stability effects on aerosol size and height distributions. Tellus 32:245–250. https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v32i3.1057
Haywood JH, Pelon J, Formenti P, Bharmal N, Brooks M, Capes G, Chazette P, Chou C, Christopher S, Coe H, Cuesta J, Derimian Y, Desboeufs K, Greed G, Harrison M, Heese B, Highwood EJ, Johnson B, Mallet K, Marticorena B, Marsham J, Milton S, Myhre G, Osborne SR, Parker DJ, Rajot J-L, Schulz M, Slingo A, Tanré D, Tulet P (2008) Overview of the dust and biomass-burning experiment and African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis Special Observing Period-0. J Geophys Res 113:D00C17. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD010077
Hersey SP, Garland RM, Crosbie E, Shingler T, Sorooshian A, Piketh S, Burger R (2015) An overview of regional and local characteristics of aerosols in South Africa using satellite, ground, and modeling data. Atmos Chem Phys 15:4259–4278. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4259-2015
Israelevich P, Ganor E, Alpert P, Kishcha P, Stupp A (2012) Predominant transport paths of Saharan dust over the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. J Geophys Res 117:D02205. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016482
Jacobson MZ, Kaufman YJ (2006) Wind reduction by aerosol particles. Geophys Res Lett 33:L24814. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL027838
Jia R, Liu Y, Hua S, Shao T (2018) Estimation of the aerosol radiative effect over the Tibetan Plateau based on the latest CALIPSO product. J Meteorol Res 32:707–722. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-018-8060-3
Justice CO, Townshend JRG, Vermote EF, Masuoka E, Wolfe RE, Saleous N, Roy DP, Morisette JT (2002) An overview of MODIS land data processing and product status. Remote Sens Environ 83:3–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(02)00084-6
Kganyago M, Shikwambana L (2019) Assessing spatio-temporal variability of wildfires and their impact on sub-Saharan ecosystems and air quality using multisource remotely sensed data and trend analysis. Sustainability 11:6811. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236811
Kim M-H, Omar AH, Tackett JL, Vaughan MA, Winker DM, Trepte CR, Hu Y, Liu Z, Poole LR, Pitts MC, Kar J, Magill BE (2018) The CALIPSO version 4 automated aerosol classification and lidar ratio selection algorithm. Atmos Meas Tech 11:6107–6135. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6107-2018
Kozu T, Kawanishi T, Kuroiwa H, Kojima M, Oikawa K, Kumagai H, Okamoto K, Okumura M, Nakatsuka H, Nishikawa K (2001) Development of precipitation radar onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 39:102–116. https://doi.org/10.1109/36.898669
Lambrigtsen B, Fetzer E, Fishbein E, Lee S-Y, Pagano T (2004) AIRS - the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder. IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium:2204–2207. https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2004.1370798
Lee KH, Li Z, Kim YJ, Kokhanovsky A (2009) Atmospheric aerosol monitoring from satellite observations: a history of three decades. In: Kim YJ, Platt U, Gu MB, Iwahashi H (eds) Atmospheric and biological environmental monitoring. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9674-7_2
Lelieveld J, Evans JS, Fnais M, Giannadaki D, Pozzer A (2015) The contribution of outdoor air pollution sources to premature mortality on a global scale. Nature 525:367–371. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15371
Liousse C, Guillaume B, Grégoire JM, Mallet M, Galy C, Pont V, Akpo A, Bedou M, Castéra P, Dungall L, Gardrat E, Granier C, Konaré A, Malavelle F, Mariscal A, Mieville A, Rosset R, Serça D, Solmon F, Tummon F, Assamoi E, Yoboué V, Van Velthoven P (2010) Updated African biomass burning emission inventories in the framework of the AMMA-IDAF program, with an evaluation of combustion aerosols. Atmos Chem Phys 10:9631–9646. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-9631-2010
Liu C, Huang J, Fedorovich E, Hu X-M, Wang Y, Lee X (2018) The effect of aerosol radiative heating on turbulence statistics and spectra in the atmospheric convective boundary layer: a large-Eddy simulation study. Atmosphere 9:347. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9090347
Morse PG, Bates JC, Miller CR, Chahine MT, O'Callaghan F, Aumann HH, Karnik AR (1999) Development and test of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS). Proc. SPIE 3870, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites III. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.373196
Mosmann V, Castro A, Fraile R, Dessens J, Sanchez J (2004) Detection of statistically significant trends in the summer precipitation of mainland Spain. Atmos Res 70:43–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2003.11.002
Nechita-Banda N, Krol M, van der Werf GR, Kaiser JW, Pandey S, Huijnen V, Clerbaux C, Coheur P, Deeter MN, Röckmann T (2018) Monitoring emissions from the 2015 Indonesian fires using CO satellite data. Phil Trans R Soc B37320170307:20170307. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0307
Núñez XC, Ruiz LV, García C-G (2014) Black carbon and organic carbon emissions from wildfires in Mexico. Atmósfera 27:165–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0187-6236(14)71107-5
Omar AH, Winker DM, Vaughan MA, Hu Y, Trepte CR, Ferrare RA, Lee K, Hostetler CA, Kittaka C, Rogers RR, Kuehn RE, Liu Z (2009) The CALIPSO automated aerosol classification and Lidar ratio selection algorithm. J Atmos Ocean Technol 26:1994–2014. https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JTECHA1231.1
Palmer PI, Feng L, Baker D, Chevallier F, Bösch H, Somkuti P (2019) Net carbon emissions from African biosphere dominate pan-tropical atmospheric CO2 signal. Nat Commun 10:3344. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11097-w
Pergola N, Marchese F, Tramutoli V, Filizzola C, Ciampa M (2008) Advanced satellite technique for volcanic activity monitoring and early warning. Ann Geophys 51:287–301. https://doi.org/10.4401/ag-3049
Randles CA, da Silva AM, Buchard V, Colarco PR, Darmenov A, Govindaraju R, Smirnov A, Holben B, Ferrare R, Hair J, Shinozuka Y, Flynn CJ (2017) The MERRA-2 aerosol reanalysis, 1980 onward. Part I: System Description and Data Assimilation Evaluation. J Climate 30:6823–6850. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0609.1
Rienecker MM, Suarez MJ, Gelaro R, Todling R, Bacmeister J, Liu E, Bosilovich MG, Schubert SD, Takacs L, Kim G, Bloom S, Chen J, Collins D, Conaty A, da Silva A, Gu W, Joiner J, Koster RD, Lucchesi R, Molod A, Owens T, Pawson S, Pegion P, Redder CR, Reichle R, Robertson FR, Ruddick AG, Sienkiewicz M, Woollen J (2011) MERRA: NASA’s modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications. J Clim 24:3624–3648. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00015.1
Roberts G, Wooster M, Lagoudakis E (2009) Annual and diurnal African biomass burning temporal dynamics. Biogeosciences 6:849–866. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-6-849-2009
Sangeetha SK, Sivakumar V, Gebreslasie M (2018) Long-range transport of SO2 over South Africa: a case study of the Calbuco volcanic eruption in April 2015. Atmos Environ 185:78–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.04.056
Savtchenko A, Ouzounov D, Ahmad S, Acker J, Leptoukh G, Koziana J, Nickless D (2004) Terra and Aqua MODIS products available from NASA GES DAAC. Adv Space Res 34:710–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2004.03.012
Schneising O, Buchwitz M, Reuter M, Bovensmann H, Burrows JP (2020) Severe Californian wildfires in November 2018 observed from space: the carbon monoxide perspective. Atmos Chem Phys 20:3317–3332. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3317-2020
Shi YR, Levy RC, Eck TF, Fisher B, Mattoo S, Remer LA, Slutsker I, Zhang J (2019) Characterizing the 2015 Indonesia fire event using modified MODIS aerosol retrievals. Atmos Chem Phys 19:259–274. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-259-2019
Shikwambana L (2019) Long-term observation of global black carbon, organic carbon and smoke using CALIPSO and MERRA-2 data. Remote Sens Lett 10:373–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/2150704X.2018.1557789
Shikwambana L, Sivakumar V (2018a) Long-range transport of volcanic aerosols over South Africa: a case study of the Calbuco volcanic eruption in Chile during April 2015. S Afr Geogr J 100:349–363. https://doi.org/10.1080/03736245.2018.1498383
Shikwambana L, Sivakumar V (2018b) Global distribution of aerosol optical depth in 2015 using CALIPSO level 3 data. J Atmos Sol-Terr Phys 173:150–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2018.04.003
Shikwambana L, Tsoeleng LT (2019) Impacts of population growth and land use on air quality. A case study of Tshwane, Rustenburg and Emalahleni, South Africa. S Afr Geogr J 102:209–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/03736245.2019.1670234
Shikwambana L, Ncipha X, Malahlela OE, Mbatha N, Sivakumar V (2019) Characterisation of aerosol constituents from wildfires using satellites and model data: a case study in Knysna, South Africa. Int J Remote Sens 40:4743–4761. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2019.1573338
Shikwambana L, Mhangara P, Mbatha N (2020) Trend analysis and first time observations of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in South Africa using TROPOMI/Sentinel-5P data. Int J appl Earth obs 9:102130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2020.102130
Simpson J, Adler RF, North GR (1988) A Proposed Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Bull Amer Meteor Soc 69:278–295. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1988)069<0278:APTRMM>2.0.CO;2
Sneyers R (1990) On the statistical analysis of series of observations. World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Technical note No. 143, Geneva:192
Sneyers R (1997) Climate chaotic instability: statistical determination and theoretical background. Environmetrics 8:517–532. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-095X(199709/10)8:5<517::AID-ENV267>3.0.CO;2-L
Sneyers R, Tuomenvirta H, Heino R (1998) Observations Inhomogeneities and detection of climate change the case of the Oulu (Finland) air temperature series. Geophysica 34:159–178
Thomas HE, Watson IM, Carn SA, Prata AJ, Realmuto VJ (2011) A comparison of AIRS, MODIS and OMI sulphur dioxide retrievals in volcanic clouds. Geomat Nat Haz Risk 2:217–232. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2011.56421
Tongwane MI, Moeletsi ME (2018) A review of greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector in Africa. Agric Syst 166:124–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.08.011
van der Werf GR, Randerson JT, Giglio L, Collatz GJ, Kasibhatla PS, Arellano AF Jr (2006) Interannual variability in global biomass burning emissions from 1997 to 2004. Atmos Chem Phys 6:3423–3441. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-6-3423-2006
Wargan K, Labow G, Frith S, Pawson S, Livesey N, Partyka G (2017) Evaluation of the ozone fields in NASA’s MERRA-2 reanalysis. J Climat 30:2961–2988. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0699.1
Williams JE, Weele M, Velthoven PFJ, Scheele MP, Liousse C, Werf GR (2012) The impact of uncertainties in African biomass burning emission estimates on modeling global air quality, long range transport and tropospheric chemical lifetimes. Atmosphere 3:132–163. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos3010132
Winker DM, Pelon J, McCormick MP (2003) The CALIPSO mission: spaceborne lidar for observation of aerosols and clouds. Proceedings of SPIE 4893, Lidar Remote Sensing for Industry and Environment Monitoring III. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.466539
Winker DM, Vaughan MA, Omar A, Hu Y, Powell KA (2009) Overview of the CALIPSO mission and CALIOP data processing algorithms. J Atmos Ocean Technol 26:2310–2323. https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JTECHA1281.1
Winker DM, Pelon J, Coakley JA Jr, Ackerman SA, Charlson RJ, Colarco PR, Flamant P, Fu Q, Hoff RM, Kittaka C, Kubar TL, Treut HL, Mccormick MP, Mégie G, Poole L, Powell K, Trepte C, Vaughan MA, Wielicki BA (2010) The CALIPSO mission: a global 3D view of aerosols and clouds. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 91:1211–1229. https://doi.org/10.1175/2010BAMS3009.1
Xiao-rui T, Mcrae DJ, Li-fu S, Ming-yu W, Hong L (2005) Satellite remote-sensing technologies used in forest fire management. J For Res 16:73–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02856861
Yang Y, Russell LM, Lou S, Liao H, Guo J, Liu Y, Singh B, Ghan SJ (2017) Dust-wind interactions can intensify aerosol pollution over eastern China. Nat Commun 8:15333. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15333
Zhao S, Yin D, Qu J (2015) Identifying sources of dust based on CALIPSO, MODIS satellite data and backward trajectory model. Atmos Pollut Res 6:36–44. https://doi.org/10.5094/APR.2015.005
Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the GES-DISC Interactive Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure (Giovanni) for providing the MERRA-2, TRMM, AIRS, OMI and MODIS data. The author thanks the NASA Langley Research Centre Atmospheric Science Data Centre for the CALIPSO data and acknowledges ESA for the Sentinel-5P/TROPOMI products.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shikwambana, L. Emissions of toxic gases and aerosols in southern Africa observed during the 2019 JJASO period. Air Qual Atmos Health 14, 481–490 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00952-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00952-1