Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Morse, Danielle M.
URN	etd-07142005-174734
Title	A Chemical and Meteorological Analysis of Long-range Transport from Africa during Austral Spring
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Meteorology, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Henry E. Fuelberg Committee Chair Jon Ahlquist Committee Member Philip Cunningham Committee Member
Keywords	Pollution Chemical Transport Trajectory
Date of Defense	2005-07-13
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract During the austral spring months of September and October when biomass burning is prevalent in the Southern Hemisphere, long-range transport can move the biomass burning byproducts from southern Africa to the Pacific Basin. Meteorological data from September 1996 were used to examine the transport from Africa using forward trajectories. Long-range transport is defined as trajectories that extend from Africa eastward to at least 110°E within 10 days. Five categories were found from trajectory analysis to constitute the major long-range transport pathways: zonal flow (35%) and four anticyclonic flows over Australia (5%), the western Pacific (5%), Easter Island (0.8%) and South America (0.9%). Chemical data collected during NASA’s Pacific Exploratory Mission-Tropics, Phase A (PEM-Tropics A) and Transport and Atmospheric Chemistry near the Equator- Atlantic (TRACE-A) missions were studied to determine the chemical evolution of burning byproducts during the long-range transport. Photochemical decay and physical mixing with background air were both found to be important dilution processes, with estimates of physical mixing lifetimes shorter than photochemical decay lifetimes. Greater values of pollution were detected at mid-tropospheric altitudes over the Pacific Basin, suggesting that more pollution is transported to mid-levels at long ranges.
Files	Filename       Size       Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)     28.8 Modem   56K Modem   ISDN (64 Kb)   ISDN (128 Kb)   Higher-speed Access    Danielle_Thesis.pdf 816.69 Kb 00:03:46 00:01:56 00:01:42 00:00:51 00:00:04