A223-0016
The Negative Impact of Biomass Burning and the Orinoco Low-Level Jet on the Air Quality of the Orinoco River Basin
The Negative Impact of Biomass Burning and the Orinoco Low-Level Jet on the Air Quality of the Orinoco River Basin
Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Poster
Abstract:
Air pollution is one of the biggest concerns of the World Health Organization (WHO) as it can cause a variety of severe health problems, and in extreme cases, it can induce premature deaths. Air pollutants can be locally emitted; however, remote and clean places can be affected by the long-range transport of a variety of aerosol particles and their co-emitted atmospheric gases. Biomass burning (BB) is a common activity in developing countries and has been identified as a serious air pollution threat.
The present work evaluates the air quality of the largest town in the extensive Colombian savannas (250,000 km2) for the first time, from measurements over three consecutive years. Although the air quality in Villavicencio is good for most of the year, the pollution levels exceed the WHO recommended limits during the dry season (February to April). The impact of the local sources on the high pollution levels was found to be very low, and the combination of the Orinoco low-level jet (OLLJ) with the BB emissions from the Venezuelan and the Colombian savannas was identified as the main source of the poor air quality in this city. Organic carbon derived from reanalysis was identified as the main component of the high PM10 concentrations during the dry season. However, mineral dust and sea salt particles were also found to play an important role in the poor air quality observed in Villavicencio and likely along the Orinoco river basin region. Finally, between November and March, the OLLJ was found to be an efficient mechanism for the transport of air pollutants from the Atlantic Ocean and the savanna regions in Venezuela and Colombia towards Colombia, and in some cases, Ecuador.
The present work evaluates the air quality of the largest town in the extensive Colombian savannas (250,000 km2) for the first time, from measurements over three consecutive years. Although the air quality in Villavicencio is good for most of the year, the pollution levels exceed the WHO recommended limits during the dry season (February to April). The impact of the local sources on the high pollution levels was found to be very low, and the combination of the Orinoco low-level jet (OLLJ) with the BB emissions from the Venezuelan and the Colombian savannas was identified as the main source of the poor air quality in this city. Organic carbon derived from reanalysis was identified as the main component of the high PM10 concentrations during the dry season. However, mineral dust and sea salt particles were also found to play an important role in the poor air quality observed in Villavicencio and likely along the Orinoco river basin region. Finally, between November and March, the OLLJ was found to be an efficient mechanism for the transport of air pollutants from the Atlantic Ocean and the savanna regions in Venezuela and Colombia towards Colombia, and in some cases, Ecuador.