Comparison of air pollution hotspots in the Highveld using airborne data
Date
2011-06-22
Authors
Ncipha, Xolile Gerald
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Abstract
The Highveld region is the economic heart of South Africa with a large number of different industries. As a result it has grown to be one of the most populated and developed regions in South Africa. It developed as an industrial region of South Africa because of its abundant mineral resources. The dense concentration of industrial, domestic and transport sources of air pollution have led to degraded air quality over the region. In this study the air pollution hotspots over the Highveld are compared by utilizing the airborne data of SO2, NOX, O3 and aerosols. The South African Weather Service (SAWS) Aerocommander 690A (ZS- JRA) research aircraft was used as an airborne platform to monitor air pollution hotspots over the Highveld. The aircraft is equipped with trace gas analysers and aerosols spectrometer probes. The flight patterns involved vertical profiles that reached approximately 3000 masl. Plume penetrations were conducted to characterize emission from specific sources and mapping to determine the extent of the spatial distribution of pollutants. The seasonal variations of air pollution in these hotspots are also compared. The airborne data is also compared to data from ground based monitoring stations. O3 concentrations were found to be fairly comparable over the Highveld air pollution hotspots in each season monitored. The inconsistency in the time and the meteorological conditions prevailing when the sites were monitored complicated the comparison of the relative loading of the other air pollutants over the hotspots. However the Vaal Triangle area was found to have high SO2 and PM2.5 aerosols concentrations in comparison to the other sites in all the seasonal case studies. Witbank was an exception to this, it was found to have high PM2.5 aerosols loading in comparison to the Vaal Triangle during the spring case study. The airborne and ground based data were found to be reasonably comparable especially O3 data.