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Aerosol Loadings across Africa - Results and Lessons from the AfriqAir Network
Michael R. Giordano, Julien Bahino, Matthias Beekmann, Thomas Bigala, Jimmy Gasore, Theobald Habineza, Aliaksei Hauryliuk, Carl Malings, Stuart Piketh, Albert A. Presto, Daniel Westervelt, Veronique Yoboue, Kofi Amegah, Emmanuel Appoh, Allison Hughes, Michael Gatari, Ezekiel Waiguru, James Nimo, Rebecca Garland, Pieter G. van Zyl, Miroslav Josipovic, R. SUBRAMANIAN, OSU-EFLUVE, LISA/CNRS, UPEC, ENPC, UP
Abstract Number: 328
Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract
AfriqAir is a global consortium that brings together air quality scientists and other researchers interested in using air quality data to tackle air pollution in African cities. A main activity of AfriqAir is to set up and operate hybrid networks of low-cost PM sensors centered around PM reference monitors. AfriqAir and our partners have deployed over 50 low-cost PM sensors as well as multiple reference-grade PM monitors in several cities across Africa, including Nairobi, Kenya, Accra, Ghana, Zamdela, South Africa, Kigali, Rwanda, and many more.This presentation will focus on the results from these sensor networks deployed over the past 2 years. Specifically, the results of a secondary COVID lockdown in Nairobi, Kenya compared to other cities in E., W., and South Africa which did not experience lockdowns in 2021 along with the temporal trends of dry (biomass burning) seasons in a pre- and post-COVID Africa will be presented. Results suggest that subsequent lockdowns after the first in Nairobi have had some effect on aerosol loadings but not as significantly as the first. An updated analysis of the mobility of low-cost sensor models in Africa will also be discussed.