Summary of research paper published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics titled: Spatial, temporal and source contribution assessments of black carbon over the northern interior of South Africa

Abstract

According to the latest assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate (IPCC), aerosol black carbon (BC) is considered the second most important contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide (CO2). Since BC is part of the atmospheric particulate fraction that have a relatively short atmospheric lifetime, the climatic influence of BC is particularly relevant on a regional scale. This paper presents equivalent black carbon (eBC) (derived from an optical absorption method) data collected from three sites in the interior of South Africa, where continuous measurements were conducted, i.e. Elandsfontein, Welgegund and Marikana, as well elemental carbon (EC) (determined by evolved carbon method) at five sites where samples were collected once a month on a filter and analysed off-line, i.e. Louis Trichardt, Skukuza, Vaal Triangle, Amersfoort and Botsalano