Assessment of aerosol burden over Ghana
Although air pollution in Ghana is ranked number one in environmental health threats to public health and sixth to cause of deaths, routine monitoring is rare. This paper presents fourteen years (2005-2018) assessment of aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 3 km resolution from MODIS Aqua and Terra satell...
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doaj-4ad7990a88b7488b81fe86447bed06232021-09-29T04:26:30ZengElsevierScientific African2468-22762021-11-0114e00971Assessment of aerosol burden over GhanaKwabena Fosu-Amankwah0Geoffrey E.Q. Bessardon1Emmanuel Quansah2Leonard K. Amekudzi3Babara J. Brooks4Richard Damoah5Corresponding author.; Applied Physics Department, C. K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Navrongo, GhanaSchool of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKDepartment of Physics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaDepartment of Physics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaNational Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), Fairbairn House, 71 - 75 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9PH, UKNational Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC), Mail Code: 618, Greenbelt, MD 20771, Morgan State University, USAAlthough air pollution in Ghana is ranked number one in environmental health threats to public health and sixth to cause of deaths, routine monitoring is rare. This paper presents fourteen years (2005-2018) assessment of aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 3 km resolution from MODIS Aqua and Terra satellites to ascertain the Spatio-temporal and seasonal distribution of aerosols over Ghana and its major cities. The MODIS AOD at 3 km were validated against ground-based Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) AODs to ascertain the suitability of the MODIS 3 km data for air quality application in the region. The contribution of distant aerosols to city aerosol loadings was also assessed with Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) backscatter model. A moderate-high aerosol burden (AODs ∼ 0.50) was observed over Ghana with a significant contribution from the pre-monsoon season. City centres of Takoradi and Kumasi showed higher aerosol loads (AODs ∼ 0.80) than Accra and Tamale. The HYSPLIT model showed that distant or transported aerosol sources to the city centres were of both marine and land generated origins. Linear regression analysis between MODIS AOD and AERONET AOD showed a reasonably good correlation of ∼ 0.60 for Aqua and Terra. From the validation analysis, both Aqua and Terra satellites can be used for air quality monitoring over Ghana; however, more ground research must be conducted to ascertain better aerosol model assumptions for the region.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227621002751AerosolsAODGhanaMODISAERONETHYSPLIT |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kwabena Fosu-Amankwah Geoffrey E.Q. Bessardon Emmanuel Quansah Leonard K. Amekudzi Babara J. Brooks Richard Damoah |
spellingShingle |
Kwabena Fosu-Amankwah Geoffrey E.Q. Bessardon Emmanuel Quansah Leonard K. Amekudzi Babara J. Brooks Richard Damoah Assessment of aerosol burden over Ghana Scientific African Aerosols AOD Ghana MODIS AERONET HYSPLIT |
author_facet |
Kwabena Fosu-Amankwah Geoffrey E.Q. Bessardon Emmanuel Quansah Leonard K. Amekudzi Babara J. Brooks Richard Damoah |
author_sort |
Kwabena Fosu-Amankwah |
title |
Assessment of aerosol burden over Ghana |
title_short |
Assessment of aerosol burden over Ghana |
title_full |
Assessment of aerosol burden over Ghana |
title_fullStr |
Assessment of aerosol burden over Ghana |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessment of aerosol burden over Ghana |
title_sort |
assessment of aerosol burden over ghana |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Scientific African |
issn |
2468-2276 |
publishDate |
2021-11-01 |
description |
Although air pollution in Ghana is ranked number one in environmental health threats to public health and sixth to cause of deaths, routine monitoring is rare. This paper presents fourteen years (2005-2018) assessment of aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 3 km resolution from MODIS Aqua and Terra satellites to ascertain the Spatio-temporal and seasonal distribution of aerosols over Ghana and its major cities. The MODIS AOD at 3 km were validated against ground-based Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) AODs to ascertain the suitability of the MODIS 3 km data for air quality application in the region. The contribution of distant aerosols to city aerosol loadings was also assessed with Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) backscatter model. A moderate-high aerosol burden (AODs ∼ 0.50) was observed over Ghana with a significant contribution from the pre-monsoon season. City centres of Takoradi and Kumasi showed higher aerosol loads (AODs ∼ 0.80) than Accra and Tamale. The HYSPLIT model showed that distant or transported aerosol sources to the city centres were of both marine and land generated origins. Linear regression analysis between MODIS AOD and AERONET AOD showed a reasonably good correlation of ∼ 0.60 for Aqua and Terra. From the validation analysis, both Aqua and Terra satellites can be used for air quality monitoring over Ghana; however, more ground research must be conducted to ascertain better aerosol model assumptions for the region. |
topic |
Aerosols AOD Ghana MODIS AERONET HYSPLIT |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227621002751 |
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AT kwabenafosuamankwah assessmentofaerosolburdenoverghana AT geoffreyeqbessardon assessmentofaerosolburdenoverghana AT emmanuelquansah assessmentofaerosolburdenoverghana AT leonardkamekudzi assessmentofaerosolburdenoverghana AT babarajbrooks assessmentofaerosolburdenoverghana AT richarddamoah assessmentofaerosolburdenoverghana |
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