Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15491–15514, 2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15491-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability in continental
South Africa and implications for air quality
Tracey Leah Laban1, Pieter Gideon van Zyl1, Johan Paul Beukes1, Ville Vakkari2, Kerneels Jaars1,
Nadine Borduas-Dedekind3, Miroslav Josipovic1, Anne Mee Thompson4, Markku Kulmala5, and Lauri Laakso2
1Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
2Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
3Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
4NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
5Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Correspondence: Pieter Gideon van Zyl (pieter.vanzyl@nwu.ac.za)
Received: 1 December 2017 – Discussion started: 19 January 2018
Revised: 11 May 2018 – Accepted: 16 October 2018 – Published: 29 October 2018
Abstract. Although elevated surface ozone (O3) concentra-
tions are observed in many areas within southern Africa, few
studies have investigated the regional atmospheric chemistry
and dominant atmospheric processes driving surface O3 for-
mation in this region. Therefore, an assessment of compre-
hensive continuous surface O3 measurements performed at
four sites in continental South Africa was conducted. The re-
gional O3 problem was evident, with O3 concentrations reg-
ularly exceeding the South African air quality standard limit,
while O3 levels were higher compared to other background
sites in the Southern Hemisphere. The temporal O3 patterns
observed at the four sites resembled typical trends for O3
in continental South Africa, with O3 concentrations peak-
ing in late winter and early spring. Increased O3 concentra-
tions in winter were indicative of increased emissions of O3
precursors from household combustion and other low-level
sources, while a spring maximum observed at all the sites
was attributed to increased regional biomass burning. Source
area maps of O3 and CO indicated significantly higher O3
and CO concentrations associated with air masses passing
over a region with increased seasonal open biomass burning,
which indicated CO associated with open biomass burning as
a major source of O3 in continental South Africa. A strong
correlation between O3 on CO was observed, while O3 lev-
els remained relatively constant or decreased with increasing
NOx , which supports a VOC-limited regime. The instanta-
neous production rate of O3 calculated at Welgegund indi-
cated that ∼ 40 % of O3 production occurred in the VOC-
limited regime. The relationship between O3 and precursor
species suggests that continental South Africa can be consid-
ered VOC limited, which can be attributed to high anthro-
pogenic emissions of NOx in the interior of South Africa.
The study indicated that the most effective emission con-
trol strategy to reduce O3 levels in continental South Africa
should be CO and VOC reduction, mainly associated with
household combustion and regional open biomass burning.
1 Introduction
High surface O3 concentrations are a serious environmental
concern due to their detrimental impacts on human health,
crops and vegetation (NRC, 1991). Photochemical smog,
comprising O3 as a constituent together with other atmo-
spheric oxidants, is a major air quality concern on urban and
regional scales. Tropospheric O3 is also a greenhouse gas that
directly contributes to global warming (IPCC, 2013).
Tropospheric O3 concentrations are regulated by three
processes, i.e. chemical production–destruction, atmospheric
transport, and losses to the surface through dry deposition
(Monks et al., 2015). The photolysis of nitrogen dioxide
(NO2) in the presence of sunlight is the only known way
of producing O3 in the troposphere (Logan, 1985). O3 can
recombine with nitric oxide (NO) to regenerate NO2, which
will again undergo photolysis to regenerate O3 and NO. This
continuous process is known as the NOx-dependent photo-
Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.
15492 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
stationary state (PSS) and results in no net production or con-
sumption of ozone (null cycle). However, net production of
O3 in the troposphere occurs outside the PSS when peroxy
radicals (HO2 and RO2) alter the PSS by oxidizing NO to
produce “new” NO2 (Cazorla and Brune, 2010), resulting in
net O3 production. The main source of these peroxy radi-
cals in the atmosphere is the reaction of the hydroxyl radical
(OH•) with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or carbon
monoxide (CO) (Cazorla and Brune, 2010).
O3 precursor species can be emitted from natural and an-
thropogenic sources. Fossil fuel combustion is considered to
be the main source of NOx in South Africa, which includes
coal-fired power generation, petrochemical operations, trans-
portation, and residential burning (Wells et al., 1996; Held
et al., 1996). Satellite observations indicate a well-known
NO2 hotspot over the South African Highveld (Lourens et al.,
2012) attributed to industrial activity in the region. CO is pro-
duced from three major sources, i.e. fossil fuel combustion,
biomass burning, and the oxidation of methane (CH4) and
VOCs (Novelli et al., 1992). Anthropogenic sources of VOCs
are largely due to industrial and vehicular emissions (Jaars
et al., 2014), while biogenic VOCs are also naturally emit-
ted (Jaars et al., 2016). Regional biomass burning, which in-
cludes household combustion for space heating and cooking,
agricultural waste burning, and open biomass burning (wild
fires), is a significant source of CO, NOx , and VOCs (Mac-
donald et al., 2011; Crutzen and Andreae, 1990; Galanter et
al., 2000; Simpson et al., 2011) in southern Africa. In addi-
tion, stratospheric intrusions of O3-rich air to the free tropo-
sphere can also lead to elevated tropospheric O3 concentra-
tions (Diab et al., 1996, 2004). O3 production from natural
precursor sources, the long-range transport of O3, and the in-
jections from stratospheric O3 contribute to background O3
levels, which is beyond the control of regulators (Lin et al.,
2012).
Since O3 concentrations are regulated in South Africa, O3
monitoring is carried out across South Africa through a net-
work of air quality monitoring stations established mainly by
provincial governments, local municipalities, and industries
(http://www.saaqis.org.za, last access: 30 November 2017).
High O3 concentrations are observed in many areas within
the interior of South Africa, which exceed the South African
standard O3 limit, i.e. an 8 h moving average of 61 ppb (e.g.
Laakso et al., 2013). These exceedances can be attributed to
high anthropogenic emissions of NOx and VOCs in dense ur-
ban and industrial areas (Jaars et al., 2014), regional biomass
burning (Lourens et al., 2011), and O3-conducive meteoro-
logical conditions (e.g. sunlight). Since O3 is a secondary
pollutant, high levels of O3 can also be found in rural areas
downwind of city centres and industrial areas. In order for
South Africa to develop an effective management plan to re-
duce O3 concentrations by controlling NOx and VOC emis-
sions, it is important to determine whether a region is NOx
or VOC limited. However, O3 production has a complex and
non-linear dependence on precursor emissions (e.g. NRC,
1991), which makes its atmospheric levels difficult to con-
trol (Holloway and Wayne, 2010). Under VOC-limited con-
ditions, O3 concentrations increase with increasing VOCs,
while a region is considered NOx limited when O3 produc-
tion increases with increasing NOx concentrations. Results
from a photochemical box model study in South Africa, for
instance, revealed that the Johannesburg–Pretoria megacity
is within a VOC-limited regime (Lourens et al., 2016). VOC
reductions would, therefore, be most effective in reducing
O3, while NOx controls without VOC controls may lead to
O3 increases. In general, it is considered that O3 formations
in regions close to anthropogenic sources are VOC limited,
while rural areas distant from source regions are NOx limited
(Sillman, 1999).
Previous assessments of tropospheric O3 over continen-
tal South Africa have focused on surface O3 (Venter et al.,
2012; Laakso et al., 2012; Lourens et al., 2011; Josipovic et
al., 2010; Zunckel et al., 2004), as well as free tropospheric
O3 based on soundings and aircraft observations (Diab et al.,
1996, 2004; Thompson, 1996; Swap et al., 2003). Two ma-
jor field campaigns (SAFARI-92 and SAFARI 2000) were
conducted to improve the understanding of the effects of
regional biomass burning emissions on O3 over southern
Africa. These studies indicated a late winter–early spring
(August and September) maximum over the region that was
mainly attributed to increased regional open biomass burning
during this period, while Lourens et al. (2011) also attributed
higher O3 concentrations in spring in the Mpumalanga High-
veld to increased regional open biomass burning. A more re-
cent study demonstrated that NOx strongly affects O3 lev-
els in the Highveld, especially in winter and spring (Bal-
ashov et al., 2014). A regional photochemical modelling
study (Zunckel et al., 2006) has attempted to explain sur-
face O3 variability, which found no dominant source(s) of
elevated O3 levels.
The aim of the current study is to provide an up-to-date as-
sessment of the seasonal and diurnal variations in surface O3
concentrations over continental South Africa, as well as to
identify local and regional sources of precursors contributing
to surface O3. Another objective is to use available ambient
data to qualitatively assess whether O3 formation is NOx or
VOC limited in different environments. An understanding of
the key precursors that control surface O3 production is crit-
ical for the development of an effective O3 control strategy.
2 Methodology
2.1 Study area and measurement stations
Continuous in situ O3 measurements obtained from four re-
search stations in the north-eastern interior of South Africa,
indicated in Fig. 1, which include Botsalano (25.54◦ S,
25.75◦ E, 1420 m a.s.l.), Marikana (25.70◦ S, 27.48◦ E,
1170 m a.s.l.), Welgegund (26.57◦ S, 26.94◦ E, 1480 m a.s.l.),
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T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15493
Figure 1. Location of the four measurement sites in South Africa.
and Elandsfontein (26.25◦ S, 29.42◦ E, 1750 m a.s.l.), were
analysed. This region is the largest industrial (indicated by
major point sources in Fig. 1) area in South Africa, with
substantial gaseous and particulate emissions from numer-
ous industries, domestic fuel burning, and vehicles (Lourens
et al., 2012, 2011), while the Johannesburg–Pretoria megac-
ity is also located in this area (Fig. 1). A combination of me-
teorology and anthropogenic activities has amplified the pol-
lution levels within the region. The seasons in South Africa
correspond to typical austral seasons, i.e. winter from June to
August, spring from September to November, summer from
December to February and autumn from March to May. The
climate is semi-arid with an annual average precipitation of
approximately 400 to 500 mm (Klopper et al., 2006; Dyson
et al., 2015), although there is considerable inter-annual
variability associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation
(ENSO) phenomenon. Precipitation in the north-eastern in-
terior occurs mostly during the austral summer, from Octo-
ber to March, whereas the region is characterized by a dis-
tinct cold and dry season from May to September, i.e. late
autumn to mid-spring, during which almost no precipitation
occurs. During this period, the formation of several inversion
layers is present in the region, which limits the vertical di-
lution of air pollution, while more pronounced anticyclonic
recirculation of air masses also occurs. This synoptic-scale
meteorological environment leads to an accumulation of pol-
lutants in the lower troposphere in this region, which can
be transported for several days (Tyson and Preston-Whyte,
2000; Garstang et al., 1996). The SAFARI-92 and SAFARI
2000 campaigns indicated that locations in southern Africa,
thousands of kilometres apart, are linked through regional
anticyclonic circulation (Swap et al., 2003).
2.1.1 Botsalano
The Botsalano measurement site is situated in a game re-
serve in the North West Province of South Africa, which is
considered to be representative of regional background air.
The surrounding vegetation is typical of a savannah biome,
consisting of grasslands with scattered shrubs and trees
(Laakso et al., 2008). The area is quite sparsely populated
and has no local anthropogenic pollution sources (Laakso
et al., 2008; Vakkari et al., 2013). The western Bushveld
Igneous Complex, where numerous platinum, base metal,
vanadium, and chromium mining–smelting industries are sit-
uated, is the largest regional anthropogenic pollution source,
with the Rustenburg area located approximately 150 km to
the east. Botsalano is also occasionally impacted by plumes
passing over the industrialized Mpumalanga Highveld and
the Johannesburg–Pretoria megacity (Laakso et al., 2008;
Vakkari et al., 2011). In addition, the site is influenced by
seasonal regional savannah wildfires during the dry period
(Laakso et al., 2008; Vakkari et al., 2011; Mafusire et al.,
2016). Measurements were conducted from 20 July 2006 un-
til 5 February 2008 (Laakso et al., 2008; Vakkari et al., 2011,
2013).
2.1.2 Marikana
The Marikana measurement site is located within the west-
ern Bushveld Igneous Complex, which is a densely populated
and highly industrialized region, where mining and smelting
are the predominant industrial activities. Marikana is a small
mining town located approximately 30 km east of Rusten-
burg and approximately 100 km north-west of Johannesburg.
The measurement site is located in the midst of a residential
area, comprising low-cost housing settlements and municipal
buildings (Hirsikko et al., 2012; Venter et al., 2012). Anthro-
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15494 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
pogenic emissions from household combustion, traffic, and
industry in the wider region have a strong influence on the
measurement site (Venter et al., 2012). Data were collected
from 8 February 2008 to 16 May 2010 and have been pre-
viously used in other studies (Venter et al., 2012; Vakkari et
al., 2013; Petäjä et al., 2013; Hirsikko et al., 2012, 2013).
2.1.3 Welgegund
This measurement site is approximately 100 km west of Jo-
hannesburg and is located on a commercial arable and pas-
toral farm. The station is surrounded by grassland savan-
nah (Jaars et al., 2016). The station can be considered a re-
gionally representative background site with few local an-
thropogenic sources. Air masses arriving at Welgegund from
the west reflect a relatively clean regional background. How-
ever, the site is, similar to the Botsalano station, at times im-
pacted by polluted air masses that are advected over major
anthropogenic source regions in the interior of South Africa,
which include the western Bushveld Igneous Complex, the
Johannesburg–Pretoria megacity, the Mpumalanga Highveld,
and the Vaal Triangle (Tiitta et al., 2014; Jaars et al., 2016;
Venter et al., 2017). In addition, Welgegund is also affected
by regional savannah and grassland fires that are common
in the dry season (Vakkari et al., 2014). The atmospheric
measurement station has been operating at Welgegund since
20 May 2010, with data measured up until 31 December
2015 utilized in this study.
2.1.4 Elandsfontein
Elandsfontein is an ambient air quality monitoring station
operated by Eskom, the national electricity supply company,
primarily for legislative compliance purposes. This station
was upgraded and co-managed by researchers during the EU-
CAARI project (Laakso et al., 2012). The Elandsfontein sta-
tion is located within the industrialized Mpumalanga High-
veld at the top of a hill approximately 200 km east of Jo-
hannesburg and 45 km south-south-east of eMalahleni (pre-
viously known as Witbank), which is a coal mining area
(Laakso et al., 2012). The site is influenced by several emis-
sion sources, such as coal mines, coal-fired power-generating
stations, a large petrochemical plant, and traffic emissions.
Metallurgical smelters to the north also frequently impact the
site (Laakso et al., 2012). The Elandsfontein dataset covers
the period 11 February 2009 until 31 December 2010 during
the EUCAARI campaign (Laakso et al., 2012).
2.2 Measurements
A comprehensive dataset of continuous measurements of
surface aerosols, trace gases, and meteorological parame-
ters has been acquired through these four measurement sites
(Laakso et al., 2008, 2012; Vakkari et al., 2011, 2013; Ven-
ter et al., 2012; Petäjä et al., 2013). In particular, measure-
ments of ozone (O3), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide
(NO2), and carbon monoxide (CO), as well as meteorolog-
ical parameters, such as temperature (◦C) and relative hu-
midity (RH, %), were used in this study. Note that Botsalano,
Marikana, and Welgegund measurements were obtained with
the same mobile station (first located at Botsalano, then relo-
cated to Marikana and thereafter permanently positioned at
Welgegund), while Elandsfontein measurements were con-
ducted with a routine monitoring station. O3 concentrations
at Welgegund, Botsalano, and Marikana research stations
were measured using the Environment SA 41M O3 analyser,
while a Monitor Europe ML9810B O3 analyser was utilized
at Elandsfontein. CO concentrations were determined at Wel-
gegund, Botsalano, and Marikana with a Horiba APMA-360
analyser, while CO was not measured at Elandsfontein. NOx
(NO+NO2) concentrations were determined with a Tele-
dyne 200AU NO/NOx analyser at Welgegund, Botsalano
and Marikana, whereas a Thermo Electron 42i NO-NO2-
NOx analyser was used at Elandsfontein. Temperature and
RH were measured with a Rotronic MP 101A instrument at
all the sites.
Data quality at these four measurement sites was en-
sured through regular visits to the sites, during which in-
strument maintenance and calibrations were performed. The
data collected from these four stations were subjected to de-
tailed cleaning (e.g. excluding measurements recorded dur-
ing power interruptions, electronic malfunctions, calibra-
tions, and maintenance) and the verification of data qual-
ity procedures (e.g. corrections were made to data accord-
ing to in situ calibrations and flow checks). Therefore, the
datasets collected at all four measurement sites are consid-
ered to represent high-quality, high-resolution measurements
as indicated by other papers (Laakso et al., 2008, 2012;
Petäjä et al., 2013; Venter et al., 2012; 2011; Vakkari et al.,
2013). Detailed descriptions of the data post-processing pro-
cedures were presented by Laakso et al. (2008) and Venter et
al. (2012). The data were available as 15 min averages and all
plots using local time (LT) refer to local South African time,
which is UTC+ 2.
In order to obtain a representative spatial coverage of con-
tinental South Africa, O3 data from an additional 54 ambi-
ent monitoring sites were selected. These included O3 mea-
surements from 18 routine monitoring station measurements
(SAAQIS) for the period from January 2012 to December
2014 (downloaded from the JOIN web interface https://join.
fz-juelich.de, last access: 15 July 2017; Schultz et al., 2017)
and 36 passive sampling sites located in the north-eastern in-
terior of South Africa where monthly O3 concentrations were
determined for 2 years from 2006 to 2007 (Josipovic, 2009).
Spatial analyses were conducted with a geographic informa-
tion system mapping tool (ArcGIS software), which used
ordinary kriging to interpolate the O3 concentrations mea-
sured at the 58 sites in order to build the spatial distribution.
The interpolation method involved making an 80/20 % split
of the data (80 % for model development, 20 % for evalua-
tion), in which 20 % was used to calculate the root-mean-
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15491–15514, 2018 www.atmos-chem-phys.net/18/15491/2018/
T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15495
square error (RMSE= 0.2804331). Optimal model parame-
ters were selected using an iterative process and evaluated
on the basis of the best performance statistics obtained (re-
ported in the ArcGIS kriging output), with particular em-
phasis on minimizing the RMSE. The extent of area was
23.00154974 (top), −29.03070026 (bottom), 25.74238974
(left), and 32.85246366 (right).
2.3 Air mass history
Individual hourly 4-day back trajectories for air masses arriv-
ing at an arrival height of 100 m above ground level were cal-
culated for the entire measurement period at each monitoring
site, using HYSPLIT 4.8 (Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian
Integrated Trajectory model) (Stein et al., 2015; Draxler and
Hess, 1998). The model was run with the GDAS meteorolog-
ical archive produced by the US National Weather Service’s
National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and
archived by ARL (Air Resources Laboratory, 2017). Over-
lay back trajectory maps were generated by superimposing
individual back trajectories onto a southern African map di-
vided into 0.5◦× 0.5◦ grid cells. In addition, source maps
were compiled by assigning each grid cell with a mean mea-
sured O3 and CO concentration associated with trajectories
passing over that cell, similar to previous methods (Vakkari
et al., 2011, 2013; Tiitta et al., 2014). A minimum of 10 tra-
jectories per cell were required for the statistical reliability.
2.4 Modelling instantaneous production rate of O3
The only speciated VOC dataset available and published in
South Africa exists for Welgegund (Jaars et al., 2016, 2014),
which could be used to model instantaneous O3 production
at this site. The concentration of these biogenic and anthro-
pogenic VOCs was obtained from grab samples taken be-
tween 11:00 and 13:00 LT over the course of two extensive
field campaigns conducted from February 2011 to February
2012 and from December 2013 to February 2015. During
this time, six trace gases, 19 biogenic VOCs, and 20 anthro-
pogenic VOCs, including 13 aromatic and seven aliphatic
compounds were measured. The VOC reactivity was calcu-
lated from the respective rate coefficients of each VOC with
•OH radicals obtained from chemical kinetic databases such
as JPL, NIST, and the MCM (e.g. Jaars et al., 2014) to es-
timate ozone production at 11:00 LT at Welgegund. Specif-
ically, each VOC reactivity was then summed to obtain the
total VOC reactivity for each measurement, i.e. VOC reac-
tivity=∑k1i[VOC]I . The major contributors to VOC re-
activity are depicted in Fig. A1 and include, in approx-
imate order of contribution, o-xylene, CO, styrene, p,m-
xylene, toluene, ethylbenzene limonene, isoprene, α-pinene,
β-pinene, and hexane. Of note, key compounds such as
methane are not included, which could contribute to VOC
reactivity, and therefore this VOC reactivity can only be
a lower estimate. However, if a global ambient concentra-
tion of 1.85 ppm and a rate of oxidation by •OH radicals of
6.68×10−15 cm3 molec−1 s−1 are assumed (Srinivasan et al.,
2005), a VOC reactivity of 0.3 s−1 would be obtained and
would therefore account for a small increase in the VOC re-
activity calculated in Figs. A1 and 10.
A mathematical box model was applied to model O3 pro-
duction as a function of VOC reactivity and NO2 concentra-
tions. This model involves three steps, i.e. (1) the estimation
of HOx (sum of •OH and HO•2 radicals) production, (2) the
estimation of the •OH radical concentration, and (3) the cal-
culation for O3 production (Murphy et al., 2006; Geddes et
al., 2009). The VOC concentrations are the limiting factor in
the ability to model O3 production at Welgegund since only
data for the 11:00 to 13:00 LT grab samples were available
(Fig. A1). Therefore, the model approach does not coincide
with peak O3 typically observed around 14:00 to 15:00 LT
and therefore likely represents a lower estimate.
The production rate of HOx (P (HOx)) depends on the
photolysis rate of O3 (JO3 ), concentration of O3, and vapour
pressure of water (Jaeglé et al., 2001). The photolysis
rate proposed for the Southern Hemisphere, i.e. JO3 = 3×
10−5 s−1 (Wilson, 2015), was used, from which P (HOx) was
calculated as follows:
P (HOx)= 2JO3kO3 [O3] [H2O],
and estimated to be 6.09× 106 molec cm−3 s−1 or
0.89 ppbv h−1 (calculated for a campaign O3 average
of 41 ppbv and a campaign RH average of 42 % at 11:00 LT
each day) at STP. The P (HOx) at Welgegund is approx-
imately a factor of 2 lower compared to other reported
urban P (HOx) values (Geddes et al., 2009). The factors and
reactions that affect [•OH] include
– linear dependency between •OH and NOx due to the
reaction NO+HO2→ •OH+NO2, until •OH begins to
react with elevated NO2 concentrations to form HNO3
(OH+NO2+M→ HNO3+M);
– P (HOx) affected by solar irradiance, temperature, O3
concentrations, and humidity; and
– partitioning of HOx among RO2, HO2, and OH.
[•OH] was calculated at 11:00 LT each day as follows:
A= k5eff
(
VOCreactivity
k2eff[NO]
)2
B = k4 [NO2]+α×VOCreactivity
C = P(HOx)
[OH]= −B +
√
B2+ 24C×A
12×A .
The instantaneous production rate of O3, P (O3), could then
be calculated as a function of NO2 levels and VOC reactivity.
A set of reactions used to derive the equations that describe
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15496 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
Figure 2. Seasonal and diurnal variation in median O3 concentrations at Welgegund, Botsalano, Marikana, and Elandsfontein. The O3
measurement periods varied among sites, which combined spanned a period from July 2006 to December 2015.
the dependence of the •OH, peroxy radicals (HO•2+RO•2),
and P (O3) on NOx is given by Murphy et al. (2006), which
presents the following equation to calculate P (O3):
P (O3)= k2eff [HO2+RO2] [NO]
= 2×VOC Reactivity×[OH],
where k2eff is the effective rate constant of NO oxidation by
peroxy radicals (chain propagation and termination reactions
in the production of O3). The values of the rate constants
and other parameters used as input parameters to solve the
equation above can be found in Murphy et al. (2006) and
Geddes et al. (2009).
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Temporal variation in O3
In Fig. 2, the monthly and diurnal variations for O3 concen-
trations measured at the four sites in this study are presented
(time series plotted in Fig. A2). Although there is some vari-
ability among the sites, monthly O3 concentrations show a
well-defined seasonal variation at all four sites, with maxi-
mum concentrations occurring in late winter and spring (Au-
gust to November), which is expected for the South African
interior as indicated above and previously reported (Zunckel
et al., 2004; Diab et al., 2004). In Fig. A3 monthly averages
of meteorological parameters and total monthly rainfall for
Welgegund are presented to indicate typical seasonal mete-
orological patterns for continental South Africa. These O3
peaks in continental South Africa generally point to two ma-
jor contributors of O3 precursors, i.e. open biomass burning
(wild fires) (Vakkari et al., 2014) and increased low-level an-
thropogenic emissions, e.g. increased household combustion
for space heating and cooking (Oltmans et al., 2013; Lourens
et al., 2011). In addition to the seasonal patterns of O3 pre-
cursor species, during the dry winter months, synoptic-scale
recirculation is more predominant and inversion layers are
more pronounced, while precipitation is minimal (e.g. Tyson
and Preston-Whyte, 2000). These changes in meteorology re-
sult in the build-up of precursor species that reach a max-
imum in August–September when photochemical activity
starts to increase. The diurnal concentration profiles of O3
at the four locations follow the typical photochemical cy-
cle, i.e. increasing during daytime in response to maximum
photochemical production and decreasing during the night-
time due to titration with NO. O3 levels peaked from mid-
day to afternoon, with a maximum at approximately 15:00
(LT, UTC+ 2). From Fig. 2, it is also evident that night-time
titration of O3 at Marikana is more pronounced, as indicated
by the largest difference between daytime and night-time O3
concentrations in comparison to the other sites, especially
compared to Elandsfontein where night-time concentrations
of O3 remain relatively high in winter.
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T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15497
Figure 3. The main (central) map indicating spatial distribution of mean surface O3 levels during springtime over the north-eastern interior
of southern Africa ranging between 23.00 and 29.03◦ S and between 25.74 and 32.85◦ E. The data for all sites were averaged for years when
the ENSO cycle was not present (by examining sea surface temperature anomalies in the Niño 3.4 region). Black dots indicate the sampling
sites. The smaller maps (top and bottom) indicate 96 h overlay back trajectory maps for the four main study sites, over the corresponding
springtime periods.
3.2 Spatial distribution of O3 in continental South
Africa
Figure 3 depicts the spatial pattern of mean surface O3 con-
centrations over continental South Africa during springtime
(September–October–November), when O3 is usually at a
maximum, as indicated above. Also presented in Fig. 3, are
96 h overlay back trajectory maps for the four main study
sites over the corresponding springtime periods. The mean
O3 concentration over continental South Africa ranged from
20 to 60 ppb during spring. From Fig. 3, it can be seen that O3
concentrations at the industrial sites Marikana and Elands-
fontein were higher than O3 levels at Botsalano and Wel-
gegund. As mentioned previously, Elandsfontein is located
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15498 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
Figure 4. Seasonal cycle of O3 at rural sites in other parts of the world. The dots indicate monthly median (50th percentile) and the upper and
lower limits the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively, for monthly O3 concentrations. The data are averaged from May 2010 to December
2014, except in a few instances in which 2014 data were not available.
within the industrialized Mpumalanga Highveld with numer-
ous large point sources of O3 precursor species. It is also evi-
dent from Fig. 3 that rural measurement sites downwind from
Elandsfontein, such as Amersfoort, Harrismith, and Glück-
stadt had significantly higher O3 concentrations, which can
be attributed to the formation of O3 during the transport of
precursor species from source regions. Lourens et al. (2011)
indicated that higher O3 concentrations were associated with
sites positioned in more rural areas in the Mpumalanga High-
veld. Venter et al. (2012) attributed high O3 concentrations
at Marikana, which exceeded South African standard limits
on a number of occasions, to the influence of local house-
hold combustion for cooking and space heating, as well as to
regional air masses with high O3 precursor concentrations.
Higher O3 concentrations were also measured in the north-
western parts of Gauteng, at sites situated within close prox-
imity to the Johannesburg–Pretoria megacity, while the rural
Vaalwater site in the north also has significantly higher O3
levels. From Fig. 3, it is evident that O3 can be considered
a regional problem, with O3 concentrations being relatively
high across continental South Africa during spring. Figure 3
also clearly indicates that the four research sites where sur-
face O3 was assessed in this study are representative of con-
tinental South Africa.
3.3 Comparison with international sites
In an effort to contextualize the O3 levels measured in this
study, the monthly O3 concentrations measured at Welge-
gund were compared to monthly O3 levels measured at mon-
itoring sites in other parts of the world (downloaded from
the JOIN web interface https://join.fz-juelich.de; Schultz et
al., 2017) as indicated in Fig. 4. Welgegund was used in the
comparison since it had the most extensive data record, while
the measurement time period considered was from May 2010
to December 2014. The seasonal O3 cycles observed at other
sites in the Southern Hemisphere are comparable to the sea-
sonal cycle at Welgegund, with slight variations in the time
of year when O3 peaks, as indicated in Fig. 4. Cape Grim,
Australia; GoAmazon T3 Manancapuru, Brazil; Ushuaia, Ar-
gentina; and Cerro Tololo, Chile, are regional background
GAW (Global Atmosphere Watch) stations with O3 levels
lower than the South African sites. However, the O3 con-
centrations at Cerro Tololo, Chile, are comparable to Wel-
gegund. Oakdale, Australia, and Mutdapilly, Australia, are
semi-rural and rural locations, which are influenced by ur-
ban and industrial pollution sources and also had lower O3
concentrations compared to Welgegund.
The northern hemispheric O3 peak over mid-latitude re-
gions is similar to seasonal patterns in the Southern Hemi-
sphere where a springtime O3 maximum is observed (i.e.
Whiteface Mountain Summit, Beltsville, Ispra, Ryori, and
Seokmo-Ri Ga). However, there are other sites in the North-
ern Hemisphere where a summer maximum is more evident
(Vingarzan, 2004), i.e. Joshua Tree and Hohenpeissenberg.
The discernible difference between the hemispheres is that
the spring maximum in the Southern Hemisphere refers to
maximum O3 concentrations in late winter and early spring,
while in the Northern Hemisphere, it refers to a late spring
and early summer O3 maximum (Cooper et al., 2014). The
spring maximum in the Northern Hemisphere is associated
with stratospheric intrusions (Zhang et al., 2014; Parrish et
al., 2013), while the summer maximum is associated with
photochemical O3 production from anthropogenic emissions
of O3 precursors being at its highest (Logan, 1985; Cheva-
lier et al., 2007). Maximum O3 concentrations at background
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T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15499
sites in the United States and Europe are similar to values
at Welgegund in spring with the exception of Joshua Tree
National Park in the United States, which had significantly
higher O3 levels. This is most likely due its high elevation
and deep boundary layer (∼ 4 km a.s.l.) during spring and
summer allowing free-tropospheric O3 to be more effectively
mixed down to the surface (Cooper et al., 2014). Maximum
O3 levels at the two sites in East Asia (Ryori and Seokmo-Ri
Ga) were also generally higher than at Welgegund, especially
at Seokmo-Ri Ga.
3.4 Sources contributing to surface O3 in continental
South Africa
As indicated above (Sect. 3.1), the O3 peaks in continental
South Africa usually reflect increased concentrations of pre-
cursor species from anthropogenic sources during winter, as
well as the occurrence of regional open biomass burning in
late winter and early spring. In addition, stratospheric O3 in-
trusions during spring (Lefohn et al., 2014) could also par-
tially contribute to increased surface O3 levels.
3.4.1 Anthropogenic and open biomass burning
emissions
A comparison of the O3 seasonal cycles at background
and polluted locations is useful for source attribution. From
Fig. 2, it is evident that daytime O3 levels peaked at Elands-
fontein, Marikana and Welgegund during late winter and
spring (August to October), while O3 levels at Botsalano
peaked later in the year during spring (September to Novem-
ber). This suggests that Elandsfontein, Marikana and Wel-
gegund were influenced by increased levels of O3 precur-
sors from anthropogenic and open biomass burning emis-
sions (i.e. NOx and CO indicated in Figs. A4 and A5, re-
spectively – time series plotted in Figs. A7 and A8), while
O3 levels at Botsalano were predominantly influenced by re-
gional open biomass burning (Fig. A5). Although Welgegund
and Botsalano are both background sites, Botsalano is more
removed from anthropogenic source regions than Welgegund
is (Sect. 2.1.3), which is therefore not directly influenced by
the increased concentrations of O3 precursor species asso-
ciated with anthropogenic emissions during winter. Daytime
O3 concentrations were the highest at Marikana throughout
most of the year, which indicates the influence of local and
regional sources of O3 precursors at this site (Venter et al.,
2012). In addition, a larger difference between O3 concentra-
tions in summer and winter–spring is observed at Marikana
compared to Welgegund and Botsalano, which can be at-
tributed to local anthropogenic emissions (mainly household
combustion) of O3 precursors at Marikana.
O3 concentrations at Elandsfontein were lower compared
to the other three sites throughout the year, with the ex-
ception of the winter months (June to August). The ma-
jor point sources at Elandsfontein include NOx emissions
from coal-fired power stations and are characterized by high-
stack emissions, which are emitted above the low-level night-
time inversion layers. During daytime, downwards mixing of
these emitted species occurs, which results in daytime peaks
of NOx (as indicated in Fig. A4 and by Collett et al., 2010)
and subsequent O3 titration. In contrast, Venter et al. (2012)
indicated that, at Marikana, low-level emissions associated
with household combustion for space heating and cooking
were a significant source of O3 precursor species, i.e. NOx
and CO. The diurnal pattern of NOx and CO (Figs. A4 and
A5, respectively) at Marikana was characterized by bimodal
peaks during the morning and evening, which resulted in
increased O3 concentrations during daytime and night-time
titration of O3, especially during winter. Therefore, the ob-
served differences in night-time titration at Marikana and
Elandsfontein can be attributed to different sources of O3
precursors, i.e. mainly low-level emissions (household com-
bustion) at Marikana (Venter et al., 2012) compared to pre-
dominantly high-stack emissions at Elandsfontein (Collett et
al., 2010). The higher O3 concentrations at Elandsfontein
during winter are most likely attributed to the regional in-
crease in O3 precursors.
The spring maximum O3 concentrations can be attributed
to increases in widespread regional biomass burning in this
region during this period (Vakkari et al., 2014; Lourens et
al., 2011). Biomass burning has strong seasonality in south-
ern Africa, extending from June to September (Galanter et
al., 2000), and is an important source of O3 and its precur-
sors during the dry season. In an effort to elucidate the in-
fluence of regional biomass burning on O3 concentrations
in continental South Africa, source area maps of O3 were
compiled by relating O3 concentrations measured with air
mass history, which are presented in Fig. 5a. Source area
maps were only generated for the background sites Welge-
gund and Botsalano since local sources at the industrial sites
Elandsfontein and Marikana would obscure the influence of
regional biomass burning. In addition, maps of spatial distri-
bution of fires during 2007, 2010, and 2015 were compiled
with the MODIS Collection 5 burnt area product (Roy et al.,
2008, 2005, 2002) and are presented in Fig. 6.
The highest O3 concentrations measured at Welgegund
and Marikana were associated with air masses passing over
a sector north to north-east of these sites, i.e. southern and
central Mozambique, southern Zimbabwe, and south-eastern
Botswana. O3 concentrations associated with air masses
passing over central and southern Mozambique were partic-
ularly high. In addition to O3 source maps, CO source maps
were also compiled for Welgegund and Botsalano, as indi-
cated in Fig. 5b. It is evident that the CO source maps in-
dicated a similar pattern to that observed for O3, with the
highest CO concentrations corresponding with the same re-
gions where O3 levels are the highest. From the fire maps in
Fig. 6, it can be observed that a large number of fires occur
in the sector, associated with higher O3 and CO concentra-
tions, with the fire map indicating, in particular, a high fire
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15500 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
Figure 5. Source area maps of (a) O3 concentrations and (b) CO concentrations for the background sites Welgegund and Botsalano. The
black star represents the measurement site and the colour of each pixel represents the mean concentration of the respective gas species. At
least 10 observations per pixel are required.
Figure 6. Spatial distribution of fires in 2007, 2010, and 2015 from the MODIS burnt area product. Blue stars indicate (from left to right)
Botsalano, Welgegund, Marikana, and Elandsfontein.
frequency occurring in central Mozambique. During 2007,
more fires occurred in Botswana compared to the other two
years, which is also reflected in the higher O3 levels mea-
sured at Botsalano during that year for air masses passing
over this region. Open biomass burning is known to emit
more CO than NOx , while CO also has a relatively long at-
mospheric lifetime (1 to 2 months; Kanakidou and Crutzen,
1999) compared to NOx (6 to 24 h, Beirle et al., 2003) and
VOCs (a few hours to a few weeks; Kanakidou and Crutzen,
1999) emitted from open biomass burning. Enhanced CO
concentrations have been used previously to characterize
the dispersion of biomass burning emissions over southern
Africa (Mafusire et al., 2016). Therefore, the regional trans-
port of CO and VOCs (and NOx to a lesser extent) associated
with biomass burning occurring from June to September in
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T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15501
southern Africa can be considered an important source of sur-
face O3 in continental South Africa (Fig. A5).
3.4.2 Stratospheric O3
Elevated levels of tropospheric O3 may also be caused by
stratospheric intrusion of O3-rich air (Zhang et al., 2014; Par-
rish et al., 2013; Lin et al., 2012), especially on certain days
during late winter and spring when O3 is the highest on the
South African Highveld (Thompson et al., 2014). However,
the importance of the stratospheric source over continental
South Africa has not yet been specifically addressed. The
assessment of meteorological fields and air quality data at
high-elevation sites is required to determine the downward
transport of stratospheric O3. Alternatively, stratospheric O3
intrusions can be estimated through concurrent in situ mea-
surements of ground-level O3, CO, and humidity since strato-
spheric intrusions of O3 into the troposphere are character-
ized by elevated levels of O3, high potential vorticity, low
levels of CO, and low water vapour (Stauffer et al., 2017;
Thompson et al., 2015, 2014). Thompson et al. (2015) de-
fined low CO as 80 to 110 ppbv, while low RH is consid-
ered < 15 %. In Fig. 7, the 95th percentile O3 levels (indica-
tive of “high O3”) corresponding to low daily average CO
concentrations (< 100 ppb) are presented together with the
daily average RH. Only daytime data from 07:00 to 18:00 LT
were considered in order to exclude the influence of night-
time titration. From Fig. 7, it is evident that very few days
complied with the criteria indicative of stratospheric O3 in-
trusion, i.e. high O3, low CO, and low RH, which indicates
a very small influence of stratospheric intrusion on surface
O3 levels. However, it must be noted that the attempt in this
study to relate surface O3 to stratospheric intrusions is a sim-
plified qualitative assessment and more quantitative detec-
tion methods should be applied to understand the influence
of stratospheric intrusions on surface O3 for this region.
3.5 Insights into the O3 production regime
The relationship among O3, NOx , and CO was used as an in-
dicator to infer the O3 production regime at Welgegund, Bot-
salano, and Marikana (no CO measurements were conducted
at Elandsfontein as indicated above) since no continuous
VOC measurements were conducted at each of these sites.
However, as indicated in Sect. 2.4, a 2-year VOC dataset was
available for Welgegund (Jaars et al., 2016, 2014), which was
used to calculate the instantaneous production rate of O3 as
a function of NO2 levels and VOC reactivity (Geddes et al.,
2009; Murphy et al., 2006).
3.5.1 The relationship among NOx , CO, and O3
In Fig. 8, the correlations among O3, NOx , and CO con-
centrations at Welgegund, Botsalano, and Marikana are pre-
sented, which clearly indicate higher O3 concentrations as-
sociated with increased CO levels, while O3 levels remain
relatively constant (or decrease) with increasing NOx . The
highest O3 concentrations occur for NOx levels below 10 ppb
since the equilibrium between photochemical production of
O3 and chemical removal of O3 shifts towards the former,
i.e. greater O3 formation. In general, there seems to exist a
marginal negative correlation between O3 and NOx (Fig. A6)
at all four sites, which is a reflection of the photochemi-
cal production of O3 from NO2 and the destruction of O3
through NOx titration. These correlations among NOx , CO,
and O3 indicate that O3 production in continental South
Africa is limited by CO (and VOCs) concentrations, i.e. VOC
limited.
This finding shows a strong correlation between O3 and
CO and suggests that high O3 can be attributed to the oxida-
tion of CO in the air masses; i.e. as long as there is a sufficient
amount of NOx present in a region, CO serves to produce O3.
Although NOx and VOCs are usually considered the main
precursors in ground-level O3 formation, CO acts together
with NOx and VOCs in the presence of sunlight to drive pho-
tochemical O3 formation. According to Fig. 8, reducing CO
emissions should result in a reduction in surface O3 and it is
assumed that this response is analogous to that of VOCs. It
is, however, not that simple since the ambient NOx and VOC
concentrations are directly related to the instantaneous rate of
production of O3 and not necessarily to the ambient O3 con-
centration at a location, which is the result of chemistry, de-
position, and transport that have occurred over several hours
or a few days (Sillman, 1999). Notwithstanding the various
factors contributing to increased surface O3 levels, the cor-
relation between ambient CO and O3 is especially relevant
given the low reactivity of CO with respect to •OH radicals
compared to most VOCs, which implies that the oxidation
of CO probably takes place over a timescale of several days.
It seems that the role of CO is of major importance in tro-
pospheric chemistry in this region, where sufficient NOx is
present across continental South Africa and biogenic VOCs
are relatively less abundant (Jaars et al., 2016), to fuel the O3
formation process.
3.5.2 Seasonal change in O3–precursors relationship
Seasonal changes in the relationship between O3 and precur-
sor species can be indicative of different sources of precursor
species during different times of the year. In Fig. 9, the cor-
relations between O3 levels and NOx and CO are presented
for the different seasons, which indicate seasonal changes in
the dependence of elevated O3 concentrations on these pre-
cursors. The very high CO concentrations relative to NOx ,
i.e. high CO-to-NOx ratios, are associated with the high-
est O3 concentrations, which are most pronounced (highest
CO/NOx ratios) during winter and spring. This indicates that
the winter and spring O3 maximum is primarily driven by in-
creased peroxy radical production from CO and VOCs. The
seasonal maximum in O3 concentration coincides with the
maximum CO concentration at the background sites, while
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15502 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
Figure 7. Simultaneous measurements of O3 (daily 95th percentile), CO (daily average ppb), and RH (daily average) from 07:00 to 18:00 LT
at Welgegund, Botsalano, and Marikana.
the O3 peak occurs just after June–July when CO peaked at
the polluted site Marikana (Fig. A5). This observed season-
ality in O3 production signifies the importance of precursor
species emissions from open biomass burning during winter
and spring in this region, while household combustion for
space heating and cooking is also an important source of O3
precursors, as previously discussed. The strong diurnal CO
concentration patterns observed during winter at Marikana
(Fig. A5) substantiate the influence of household combustion
on CO levels, as indicated by Venter et al. (2012).
3.5.3 O3 production rate
In Fig. 10, P (O3) as a function of VOC reactivity calculated
from the available VOC dataset for Welgegund (Sect. 2.4)
and NO2 concentrations is presented. O3 production at Wel-
gegund during two field campaigns, specifically at 11:00 LT,
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T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15503
Figure 8. Mean O3 concentration averaged for NOx and CO bins.
Measurements were only taken from 11:00 to 17:00 LT when pho-
tochemical production of O3 was at a maximum.
Figure 9. Seasonal plots of the relationship among O3, NOx , and
CO at Welgegund, Botsalano, and Marikana.
was found to range between 0 and 10 ppbv h−1. The average
P (O3) values over the 2011 to 2012 and the 2014 to 2015
campaigns combined were 3.0± 1.9 and 3.2± 3.0 ppbv h−1,
respectively. The dashed black line in Fig. 10, called the ridge
line, separates the NOx- and VOC-limited regimes. To the
left of the ridge line is the NOx-limited regime, when O3 pro-
duction increases with increasing NOx concentrations. The
VOC-limited regime is to the right of the ridge line, when
O3 production decreases with increasing NOx . According to
the O3 production plot presented, approximately 40 % of the
data are found in the VOC-limited regime area, which would
Figure 10. Contour plot of instantaneous O3 production (P (O3)) at
Welgegund using daytime (11:00 LT) grab sample measurements of
VOCs and NO2. The blue dots represent the first campaign (2011–
2012), and the red dots indicate the second campaign (2014–2015).
support the regional O3 analysis conducted for continental
South Africa in this study. However, the O3 production plot
for Welgegund transitions between NOx- and VOC-limited
regimes, with Welgegund being in a NOx-limited production
regime the majority of the time, especially when NOx con-
centrations are very low (< 1 ppb). As indicated in Sect. 2.4,
limitations to this analysis include limited VOC speciation
data, as well as a single time-of-day grab sample. The O3
production rates can therefore only be inferred at 11:00 LT
despite O3 concentrations peaking during the afternoon at
Welgegund. Therefore, clean background air O3 production
is most likely NOx limited (Tiitta et al., 2014), while large
parts of the regional background of continental South Africa
can be considered VOC limited.
3.6 Implications for air quality management
3.6.1 Ozone exceedances
The South African National Ambient Air Quality Standard
(NAAQS) for O3 is an 8 h moving-average limit of 61 ppbv
with 11 exceedances allowed annually (Government Gazette,
2009). Figure 11 shows the average number of days per
month when this O3 standard limit was exceeded at the four
measurement sites. It is evident that the daily 8 h O3 maxi-
mum concentrations regularly exceeded the NAAQS thresh-
old for O3 and the number of exceedances annually allowed
at all the sites, including the most remote of the four sites,
Botsalano. At the polluted locations of Marikana and Elands-
fontein, the O3 exceedances peak early on in the dry season
(June onwards), while at the background locations of Welge-
gund and Botsalano, the highest numbers of exceedances oc-
cur later in the dry season (August to November). These rela-
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15504 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
Figure 11. Monthly number of exceedances of the daily 8 h O3
maximum (i.e. highest value of all available 8 h moving averages
in that day) above 61 ppbv at Welgegund, Botsalano, Marikana, and
Elandsfontein.
tively high numbers of O3 exceedances at all the sites (back-
ground and industrial) highlight the regional O3 problem in
South Africa, with background sites being impacted by the
regional transport of O3 precursors from anthropogenic and
biomass burning source regions.
3.6.2 O3 control strategies
As indicated above (Sect. 3.4 and 3.5), O3 formation in the
regions where Welgegund, Botsalano, and Marikana are lo-
cated can be considered VOC limited, while the highly in-
dustrialized region with high NOx emissions where Elands-
fontein is located could also be considered VOC limited. Ru-
ral remote regions are generally considered to be NOx lim-
ited due to the availability of NOx and the impact of bio-
genic VOCs (BVOCs) (Sillman, 1999). However, Jaars et
al. (2016) indicated that BVOC concentrations at a savan-
nah grassland were at least an order of magnitude lower
compared to other regions in the world. Therefore, very
low BVOC concentrations, together with high anthropogenic
emissions of NOx in the interior of South Africa, result in
VOC-limited conditions at background sites in continental
South Africa.
It is evident that reducing CO and VOC concentrations as-
sociated with anthropogenic emissions, e.g. household com-
bustion, vehicular emissions, and industries, would be the
most efficient control strategy to reduce peak O3 concentra-
tions in the interior of South Africa. It is also imperative to
consider the seasonal variation in the CO and VOC source
strength in managing O3 pollution in continental southern
Africa. This study also revealed the significant contribution
of biomass burning to O3 precursors in this region, which
should also be considered when implementing O3 control
strategies. However, since open biomass burning in south-
ern Africa is of anthropogenic and natural origin, while O3
concentrations in continental South Africa are also influ-
enced by trans-boundary transport of O3 precursors from
open biomass burning occurring in other countries in south-
ern Africa (as indicated above), it is more difficult to con-
trol. Nevertheless, open biomass burning caused by anthro-
pogenic practices (e.g. crop residue, pasture maintenance
fires, opening burning of garbage) can be addressed.
4 Conclusions
A spatial distribution map of O3 levels in the interior of
South Africa indicated the regional O3 problem in conti-
nental South Africa, which was signified by the regular ex-
ceedance of the South African air quality standard limit. The
seasonal and diurnal O3 patterns observed at the four sites
in this study resembled typical trends for O3 in continental
South Africa, with O3 concentrations peaking in late winter
and early spring (see Zunckel et al., 2004), while daytime O3
corresponded to increased photochemical production. The
seasonal O3 trends observed in continental southern Africa
could mainly be attributed to the seasonal changes in emis-
sions of O3 precursor species and local meteorological con-
ditions. Increased O3 concentrations in winter at Welgegund,
Marikana, and Elandsfontein reflected increased household
combustion for space heating and the trapping of low-level
pollutants near the surface. A spring maximum observed at
all the sites was attributed to increased regional open biomass
burning. Significantly higher O3 concentrations, which cor-
responded with increased CO concentrations, were associ-
ated with air masses passing over a region in southern Africa,
where a large number of open biomass burning occurred
from June to September. Therefore, the regional transport of
CO associated with open biomass burning in southern Africa
was considered a significant source of surface O3 in con-
tinental South Africa. A very small contribution from the
stratospheric intrusion of O3-rich air to surface O3 levels at
the four sites was indicated.
The relationship among O3, NOx , and CO at Welgegund,
Botsalano, and Marikana indicated a strong correlation be-
tween O3 and CO, while O3 levels remained relatively con-
stant (or decreased) with increasing NOx . Although NOx and
VOCs are usually considered to be the main precursors in
ground-level O3 formation, CO can also drive photochemi-
cal O3 formation. The seasonal changes in the relationship
between O3 and precursors species also reflected the higher
CO emissions associated with increased household combus-
tion in winter and open biomass burning in late winter and
spring. The calculation of the P (O3) from a 2-year VOC
dataset at Welgegund indicated that at least 40 % of O3 pro-
duction occurred in the VOC-limited regime. These results
indicated that large parts in continental South Africa can be
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T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15505
considered VOC limited, which can be attributed to high an-
thropogenic emissions of NOx in this region. It is, however,
recommended that future studies should investigate more de-
tailed relationships among NOx , CO, VOCs, and O3 through
photochemical modelling analysis, while concurrent mea-
surement of atmospheric VOCs and •OH would also con-
tribute to the better understanding of surface O3 in this re-
gion.
In this paper, some new aspects of O3 for continental
South Africa have been indicated, which must be taken
into consideration when O3 mitigation strategies are de-
ployed. Emissions of O3 precursor species associated with
the concentrated location of industries in this area could be
regulated, while CO and VOC emissions associated with
household combustion and regional open biomass burning
should also be targeted. However, emissions of O3 precursor
species related to factors such as household combustion as-
sociated with poor socio-economic circumstances and long-
range transport provide a bigger challenge for regulators.
Data availability. The data of this paper are available upon request
to Pieter van Zyl (pieter.vanzyl@nwu.ac.za) or Johan Paul Beukes
(paul.beukes@nwu.ac.za).
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15506 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
Appendix A
Figure A1. Individual VOC reactivity time series. In the calculation of instantaneous O3 production (P (O3)), CO was treated as a VOC.
Figure A2. Time series of monthly median O3 concentrations for each hour of the day at the four sites.
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15491–15514, 2018 www.atmos-chem-phys.net/18/15491/2018/
T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15507
Figure A3. Monthly averages of meteorological parameters at Welgegund to show typical seasonal patterns in continental South Africa. In
the case of rainfall, the total monthly rainfall values are shown.
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15508 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
Figure A4. Seasonal and diurnal variation in NOx at Welgegund, Botsalano, Marikana, and Elandsfontein (median values of NOx concen-
tration were used).
Figure A5. Seasonal and diurnal variation in CO at Welgegund, Botsalano, and Marikana (median values of CO concentration were used).
Note that CO was not measured at Elandsfontein.
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15491–15514, 2018 www.atmos-chem-phys.net/18/15491/2018/
T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15509
Figure A6. Scatter plots of O3 vs. NOx for daytime (09:00 to 16:52 LT), and night-time (17:00 to 08:52 LT) at Welgegund, Botsalano,
Marikana, and Elandsfontein. The correlation coefficient (r) has a significance level of p < 10−10, which means that r is statistically signif-
icant (p < 0.01).
Figure A7. Time series of monthly median NOx concentrations for each hour of the day at the four sites.
www.atmos-chem-phys.net/18/15491/2018/ Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15491–15514, 2018
15510 T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability
Figure A8. Time series of monthly median CO concentrations for each hour of the day at the four sites.
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T. L. Laban et al.: Seasonal influences on surface ozone variability 15511
Author contributions. TLL, PGvZ, and JPB were the main investi-
gators in this study. PGvZ and JPB were project leaders of the study
and wrote the manuscript. TLL conducted this study as part of her
PhD degree and performed most of the data analysis. PGvZ, JPB,
and AMT were study leaders for the PhD. VV assisted with data
analyses and made conceptual contributions. KJ conducted volatile
organic carbon measurements, while NBD modelled instantaneous
ozone production rate. MJ assisted with data collection. AMT, MK,
and LL made conceptual contributions.
Competing interests. The authors declare that they have no conflict
of interest.
Disclaimer. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are
those of the authors and are not necessarily to be attributed to the
National Research Foundation (NRF).
Acknowledgements. The financial assistance of the National
Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby ac-
knowledged. We thank the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report
(TOAR) initiative for providing the surface ozone data used in this
publication. The authors are also grateful to Eskom for supplying
the Elandsfontein data. Thanks are also due to Dirk Cilliers from
the NWU for the GIS assistance. Ville Vakkari is a beneficiary of
an AXA Research Fund postdoctoral grant. This work was partly
funded by the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence program
(grant no. 272041).
Edited by: Ulrich Pöschl
Reviewed by: Mathew Evans and one anonymous referee
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