More than 30 years of the GAW programme in SA: Past, Present and Future

Lucky Ntsangwane WMO­GAW 2009 Workshop

Geneva, CH 5­7 May 2009

Contributors: E­G. Brunke, G. Coetzee, P. Gwaze, M. Katlego, C. Labuschagne, T. Mkololo, B. Parker,

D. van der Spuy

WMO Global Atmosphere Watch Stations

• GO3OS sites: Total Column Ozone (Irene and Springbok) & EEC Ozone Sondes (Irene)

• BSRN Station: Solar Radiation (De Aar) • National UVB Network (Cape Town, Cape Point, Port Elizabeth, De Aar, Durban, Pretoria)

• WMO Global Atmosphere Watch Station: Trace Gases (Cape Point)

CAPE POINT AND REGIONAL NETWORK

Regional activities of the Cape Point GAW program

•Dobson spectrophotometers for measuring column ozone located at Springbok and Irene.

• Ozone sonde balloon ascents at Pretoria as part of the SHADOZ program.

•Measurements for short and long wave radiation are conducted at De Aar: BSRN station.

•National network of sensors for measuring UV­B at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Pretoria.

Historical background • 1977: First trace gas measurements (CO and CFC­11) were started at Cape Point by Dr. Eric Halliday of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of South Africa in collaboration with the Max­Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany

• 1995: a new laboratory was built and the station officially incorporated into the WMO­GAW network

• 1997: GAW laboratory and some staff came under the management of the SAWS

• Regular additions to the monitoring programme have been a key aspect of the station, allowing it to keep pace with WMO GAW objectives

Historical background cont… • 1989: Ozone and UVB and work started with a refurbished Dobson #89

• 1995: A second Dobson: Dobson #132 was acquired and established in Springbok

• 1997: BSRN established at De Aar station

• 2002: Started with Surface ozone measurement at SANAE and the refurbishment to the SOAZ instrument also added value to our Antarctic environmental monitoring efforts

Cape Point Global Atmosphere Watch Station

• Inside the air conditioned GAW station • Left picture shows existing measuring equipments and gas bottle racks. •The right picture shows the area where the measurement system can be installed ­ on the left side are computers and internet access •The photographer stood for both pictures at the entrance door – the building is L­shaped.

GAW related trace gas work at Sanae IV

FZK/IMK‐IFU and SAWS‐CPT Twinning

: • Supplementing in­situ measurements for CO 2 ; CH 4 ; CO; N 2 O (inter­comparison)

• Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE), France (Flask data)

• Initiated in July 2004: ~2 flask pairs per month

• Automated system – under baseline conditions only

FIask Sampling Program with LSCE

Audit History:

1997 WCC­EMPA (O 3 )

1998 WCC­EMPA (O 3 & CO)

2002 WCC­EMPA (O 3 , CO & CH 4 )

2003 WCC­N 2 O

2005 4 th WMO CO 2 Round robin intercomparison

2006 WCC­EMPA (O 3 , CO and CH 4 )

2006 WCC­AP (aerosols)

Quality Control through Audits and Round­Robin Experiments

Oxygen measurements to supplement CO 2 studies in the Southern Ocean • The sample is taken under base line conditions [wind direction, CO and CPC]

• The automated system takes 1.5 hours in order to take a sample

• Flasks with field sheets containing the meteorological data are sent to Washington for analysis of Oxygen/nitrogen and Argon/nitrogen

•Hereafter the samples are sent to NOAA­ESRL for CO 2 analysis

Reference: www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1136188/DC1

CO 2 sink within Southern Atlantic on the decrease as a result of Climate Change

Saturation of CO 2 Sink within Southern Ocean

GAWTEC TRAINING

So far three Cape Point staff members have taken part in

these very useful training courses

Recent Collaborations 1) with IAEA and CTBTO

2) AOD with PMOD SWISS GAW Ø The SAUNA noble gas measurement system was used to carry out the 6 week atmosphere ( Jan­ February 2009) monitoring experiments at the Cape Point GAW

laboratory for "Monitoring of Environmental Radio xenon" (MERX) project Ø To validate measurements under CTBTO – Compressive Test Ban Treaty” of

which South Africa is signatory since 1992 Ø Pictures of the SAUNA system ­ unpacking and operating at the CPT laboratory

Ø contact GAW CPT casper.labuschagne@weathersa.co.za Øcontact Dr Paul Saey, IAEA, Vienna

Aerosol optical depth (AOD)

• In February 2008, a Precision Filter Radiometer (PFR) was installed on a solar tracker. It measures the aerosol burden in the atmospheric column.

Cape Point installation

First installation on 12 February Current installation since 28 July

SAWS responses to ambient AQ challenges Development of South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS) in partnership with DEAT

• SAWS is hosting SAAQIS

• SAAQIS will provide focal point for coordinating ambient air quality information across local, provincial and national level

• SAAQIS next phase – Emissions inventory of pollutants and GHG (climate change link)

SAAQIS purpose and objectives • Purpose:

To support effective and efficient air quality management in South Africa.

• Overall objective:

To provide all stakeholders with easy access to all relevant information about air quality in South Africa and further provide different stakeholders with different useful on­line applications to support effective and efficient management of the air quality.

SAAQIS … Schematics

Research Aircraft

0.0

200.0

400.0

600.0

800.0

1000.0

1200.0

1400.0

1600.0

1800.0

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Rain mass (kton)

Time (minutes)

SAREP cases (N=37) 1997­2000

SQ1 CQ1 SQ2 CQ2 SQ3 CQ3

Rainfall Enhancement Research

Airborne Monitoring of Pollution Hotspots

Aerosol Concentration over Gauteng

•Aircraft campaigns and experiments to study hot­spots

•CT Brown Haze, Durban, Highveld, SAFARI

Future Plans Ø DOBSON IC 2009 for Africa Ø Re­Establishing the De Aar BSRN Station Ø Overhauling SAWS Solar Radiation Network Ø Cape Point Weekly Flask Sampling Programme Ø AOD Ø Continued work on the South African Air Quality

Information system http://www.saaqis.org.za/ Ø Building our Air Quality Modelling and

Forecasting Capabilities Ø UVB FORECASTING ( numerical modeling

enhancement and development). Improve services for better real time data ( with levels of QC at least)

Ø Importantly, SAWS is committed to maintain and where possible to enhance it’s GAW Cape Point station and regional research and monitoring activities

Dobson IC2009 Ø WMO/UNEP funding Ø Scheduled at SAWS Irene Technical Centre starting

19 October 2009 Ø International Resource staff ( NOAA USA, DWD, SOO –HK

Czech Rep Ø Dobson Participating Countries Ø South Africa (X3), Egypt(X3), Algeria(X1), Nigeria(X1),

Seychelles(X1), Botswana(X1), Kenya(X1), Uganda (New?) Ø Invitations – Mid June 2009 Ø Contact: gerrie.coetzee@weathersa.co.za

SAWS Solar Radiation Ø Re­establish BSRN at De Aar and entire SAWS National Solar

Radiation Network Ø First Re­building our in­house Solar Radiation Capacity Ø External collaboration and expertise will be tapped into Ø A New Primary Network 12 station with new sensors of

Global and Diffuse radiation to be established ­ next 3 years Ø Secondary network in line with Automatic Weather Station

network Ø Submit Solar Radiation data to the WDC in St Petersburg

Cape Point future AOD plans

ØResearch questions ØInter­annual variations? ØInfluence of biomass burning season? ØInfluence of long­range transport, including trajectory analyses?

ØInter­comparison with satellite retrievals

Acknowledgements

Local authorities: South African National Parks (SANP) Portnet

ØFZK: Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, IMK­IFU, Garmisch­ Partenkirchen, Germany (http://kit.gap.fzk.de); Cape Point twinning partner.

ØGAW World Optical Depth Research and Calibration Centre (WORCC) in Davos, Switzerland.

ØLSCE: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environment, Gif­sur­ Yvette, Paris, France: Flask samples

ØNASA, USA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration for co­operation within the Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesonde (SHADOZ) program.

ØNOAA­ESRL, Boulder, USA: Aerosol program and laboratory standards.

ØNWU: North­West University, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Potchefstroom, South Africa; Passive samples and precipitation analyses.

ØUniversity of Princeton, New York, USA: Sampling for O2/N2.

ØWMO: World Meteorological Organization, Global Atmosphere Watch, Geneva, Switzerland (http://www.wmo.ch); GAW coordinating body

Acknowledgements

Some trace gas results

After the successful implementation of the Montreal Protocol in 1978, decreasing halocarbon trends have been observed.

Cape Point Halocarbons: declining trends

Taken from WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin 2007

In the S.H. mid latitudes, at Cape Point, Cape Grim, and Lauder ozone has increased significantly with the increases coming primarily in austral spring. [courtesy of S. Oltmans, NOAA­ESRL, USA]

Surface ozone: Cape Point & other SH stations

1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 0

10

20

30

40

Cape Point: Surface Ozone (1983­2008)

O 3 [pp

b]

YEAR

Monthly means, regression curve and trend

The most important greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide due to its ability to trap outgoing Infrared radiation. Since the industrial revolution CO 2 concentrations have increased globally by 36%

Cape Point CO 2 time series

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 350

355

360

365

370

375

380

385

Monthly Means, Regression Curve and Trend

Cape Point: CO 2 (1993­2008)

CO 2 [pp

m]

YEAR

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Smoothed rates Linear fit

Cape Point: CO 2 growth rates (1993­2008)

CO 2 grow

th ra

te [ppm

/yr]

YEAR

Reference: www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1136188/DC1

CO 2 sink within Southern Atlantic on the decrease as a result of Climate Change

Saturation of CO 2 Sink within Southern Ocean

1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 1550

1600

1650

1700

1750

1800

Monthly means (background), regression curve and trend estimate

Cape Point: CH 4 (1983­2006)

CH 4 [ppb]

YEAR

­4

0

4

8

12

16

20

Growth ra

te [ppb/yr]

Cape Point CH 4 time series

1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 1550

1600

1650

1700

1750

1800

Monthly means (background), regression curve and trend estimate

Cape Point: CH 4 (1983­2008)

CH 4 [ppb]

YEAR

­4

0

4

8

12

16

20

Growth ra

te [ppb/yr]

Cape Point CH 4 on the rise again

Possible reasons for global CH 4 increase

• CH 4 levels more than trippled since pre­industrial times.

• For about a decade, emissions balanced by destruction.

• Since 2007 almost simultaneous growth observed world­wide, although most sources located in NH.

• Rather warm conditions over Siberia in 2007 might have released more CH 4 from wetlands. However, this does not explain high SH levels.

• Falling OH levels another explanation. However, no rise in CO seen.

• High­resolution atmospheric circulation models and additional measure­ ments needed to find answers.

• Too early to say, whether the rise is temporary or long­term.