*EPF209 08/15/00
Text: Scientists Study African Smog and Ecosystems
(SAFARI 2000 includes use of aircraft and satellites) (810)
A group of international scientists is using aircraft and satellites to better understand how the movement of smoke and haze in the southern part of Africa affects the global climate.
An August 14 press release from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says more than 100 scientists from the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom are conducting the study as part of the Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000), which has been underway for more than a year and will continue into September.
Researchers report that the southern African atmosphere is particularly vulnerable to smog -- a mixture of smokes from industry, mining, agricultural burning and other sources -- due to a persistent high-pressure system.
The air pollution study is part of a larger SAFARI effort that includes analysis of land cover and land use change, clouds and radiation, hydrology, and computer modeling. The study region for SAFARI 2000 includes Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Following is the text of the NASA press release:
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Monday, August 14, 2000
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
NASA SCIENTISTS ON "SAFARI" MISSION STUDY AFRICAN SMOG/ECOSYSTEMS
African smog and its role in global change are under study by NASA and international scientists who are now tracking the movement of air pollution in the southern part of the continent.
The southern African atmosphere is particularly vulnerable to air pollution due to a persistent high-pressure system there. African smog is a soup of smokes from industry, mining, agricultural burning and other sources.
"We plan to test and improve satellite measurement accuracy for airborne particles, including smoke and haze, as well as water vapor and ozone," said Philip Russell, who works at the Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch, part of NASA's Ames Research Center, located in California's Silicon Valley. "We want to better understand the effects that smoke, haze and trace gases have on the African and global climate. We also want to help improve remote measurements of the Earth's surface, for example, measurements of vegetation and ocean color."
NASA researchers are among more than 100 scientists who are now conducting extensive and varied field studies as part of the Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000) that has been underway for more than a year, and will continue into September. Flights and science activities are based in Pietersburg, Republic of South Africa.
Russell's team is measuring and analyzing sunlight with an airborne sunphotometer carried on the University of Washington CV-580 aircraft. The sunphotometer measures the amount of sunlight that penetrates smoke and other aerosols in the atmosphere at different wavelengths, including ultraviolet, visible and infrared light.
Russell's researchers will match airplane flights with satellite overpasses, and will sample smokes from burning vegetation as well as industrial emissions. Other investigators on the CV-580 aircraft and on the ground will simultaneously measure a variety of aerosol properties during data consistency tests.
In addition to Russell, Ames scientists on his team include Beat Schmid and Jens Redemann. A second Ames team, led by Peter Pilewskie, is doing other African field studies. His "radiation group" is flying a solar spectral flux radiometer instrument on a NASA ER-2 airplane and on the University of Washington's CV-580 aircraft. Scientists will use data from the instrument to find out how much solar energy is absorbed by particles of smoke and dust and other aerosols, and how much energy clouds reflect. In addition, the researchers are testing the ability of satellites to make the same measurements from space.
The NASA Ames studies are a part of the larger SAFARI effort. It includes analysis of terrestrial ecology and land processes; land cover and land use change; atmospheric aerosols and trace gases; clouds and radiation; hydrology; and computer modeling. Researchers are studying these elements by using ground and airborne measurements complemented by remote sensing observations from older satellites as well as a new generation of Earth observation satellites. They include sensors on NASA's Terra, Landsat 7 and SEAWIFS satellites as well as the European ENVISAT and POLDER II spacecraft.
The study region for SAFARI 2000 includes Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Scientists from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany are collaborating to conduct the science initiative. NASA's Earth Observing System project is the primary sponsor of U.S. participation in SAFARI 2000.
More SAFARI 2000 information, including listings of additional experiments and organizations, is on the Internet at: http://safari.gecp.virginia.edu and http://eos.nasa.gov
A media guide is also on the Internet at: http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/earth/environ/MEDIAGUIDE_050300.htm
The Pietersburg Gateway International Airport website is at: http://www.gateway-airport.co.za/
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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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