Atmospheric chemistry
South African ozone peaks with fires and winter fires
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Continental South African surface ozone peaks in late winter–spring from household combustion and biomass burning, and is often VOC-limited.
How this study connects
Role on claims
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Continental South African surface ozone peaks in late winter–spring from household combustion and biomass burning, and is often VOC-limited.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Other — Continuous in situ ozone, NOx, and CO at four interior South African stations plus a Welgegund VOC regime analysis
- N
- N=4 · Botsalano, Marikana, Welgegund, and Elandsfontein; 2-year VOC dataset at Welgegund
- Population
- Continental South African surface ozone monitoring sites
- Outcome
- Surface ozone peaks in late winter–spring from household combustion and biomass burning and is often VOC-limited
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
Inspect source passages
South African ozone peaks with fires and winter fires
These passages occur verbatim in the stored paper text. They support the points listed below; they do not verify every statement in the explanation.
At least 40% of ozone production at Welgegund occurred in the VOC-limited regime.
The calculation of the P (O 3 ) from a 2-year VOC dataset at Welgegund indicated that at least 40 % of O 3 production occurred in the VOC-limited regime.
Annual average precipitation is approximately 400 to 500 mm.
The climate is semi-arid with an annual average precipitation of approximately 400 to 500 mm (; ), although there is considerable inter-annual variability associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon.
Key findings
Sites regularly exceed the South African ozone standard. Concentrations peak in late winter and early spring: winter trapping of household-combustion pollution plus a spring biomass-burning CO source. Stratospheric intrusions are minor. Ozone correlates with CO more than NOx, and at least 40% of Welgegund production is VOC-limited amid high regional NOx.
Methodology
Authors analyzed continuous in situ ozone at Botsalano, Marikana, Welgegund, and Elandsfontein, related it to NOx and CO, used air-mass origin, and computed ozone production regime from a 2-year VOC dataset at Welgegund.
Limitations
VOC-limited inference is strongest at Welgegund; the other sites lack the same VOC record. The paper is observational, not a full photochemical-model source apportionment, and socio-economic household burning is hard to regulate from this evidence alone.
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