Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-133
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-133
21 Feb 2017
 | 21 Feb 2017
Status: this preprint was under review for the journal ACP but the revision was not accepted.

Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology over Ethiopia and Retrieval of its Size Distribution

Milkessa Gebeyehu Homa, Gizaw Mengistu Tsidu, and Derese Tekestebrihan Nega

Abstract. Stratospheric aerosols play significant role both positively and negatively in Earths energy balance and climate change. Its main sources are particulate matters which arises from either of natural or anthropogenic activities. In the context of our country, Ethiopia, the stratospheric aerosol climatology has not been studied yet. However, Ethiopia is undergoing a boom of infrastructural development like increase of urbanization, which comes with a boom of development like building and road constructions, expansion of industries, traffic density, etc, which contributes to air pollution and influences the solar radiation budget of the earth-atmosphere system, which in turn influences the climate on the surface of the Earth by different ways. Hence, this study aimed to provide the stratospheric aerosol climatology for nearly 21 years extending from Oct., 1984 to Sept., 2005. The study was carried out by defining the stratospheric region from the temperature profile of the study area provided by Stratospheric Aerosols and Gas Experiment II (SAGEII) instrument aboard on Earths Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS). Then, the data was filtered out over Ethiopian region at four aerosol channels and the optical depth is used as input to the Mie algorithm for aerosol size distribution (ASD) retrieval. Finally, it was observed that the spectral and vertical variation of the extinction is maximum between 17–25 km and the total column aerosol optical depth (AOD) temporal variation shows nearly steadily increasing trend with maximum variation during spring. Furthermore, from the ASD result it was observed that the maximum size distribution was in April. This paves a clue about their sources to be mechanical process on the ground and gas to particle conversion in the stratosphere with the dominant size distribution in the range of 0.452–0.525 μm radius.

Milkessa Gebeyehu Homa, Gizaw Mengistu Tsidu, and Derese Tekestebrihan Nega
 
Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement
Milkessa Gebeyehu Homa, Gizaw Mengistu Tsidu, and Derese Tekestebrihan Nega
Milkessa Gebeyehu Homa, Gizaw Mengistu Tsidu, and Derese Tekestebrihan Nega

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Short summary
This article provides aerosol climatology of Ethiopia for 21 years. The result showed that aerosol loading over the region is steadily increasing in different sizes. The dominant radius of the particulate matters are between 0.452–0.525 μm, & dominated by reflective type aerosol. This influence the solar radiation budget of the earth, which in turn influences the Earth's climate in different ways. Hence, it is the right time to give the right attention to air quality & climate change impacts.
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