The Influence of Rainfall and Temperature on Total Column Ozone over West Africa

Abstract

This study aims at analyzing the influence of rainfall and temperature on Total Column Ozone (TCO) over West Africa. It provides adequate information on the spatial variability of total column ozone concentration, temperature distribution across latitudinal zones, monthly distribution and inter-annual variability of total ozone column and inter-relationship between monthly ozone and distribution of precipitation rate over West Africa. The result of this work shows that, there are significant interconnectivities between total ozone column variability with precipitation and temperature. The correlation between Annual coefficient of Relative Variation (ACRV) of Total Column Ozone (TCO) with average annual temperature and average precipitation shows that there is correlation in ACRV of total ozone column trends over West Africa with temperature and precipitation. A strong positive value correlation was observed between the ACRV of ozone and average annual temperature which increases from 25°C to 29°C at the hot arid north of the region and the mean monthly maximum ozone Coincides with the tropical summer rainfall over West Africa between June and September, which showed that there is a significant relationship between rainfall and total ozone column over West Africa. Temperature and ozone tend to increase across the latitude while rainfall decreases across the latitude. These observations suggest significant association between the atmospheric phenomena and total ozone redistribution over West Africa. Ozone distribution is mostly controlled by rainfall producing mechanism. The moist south westerly originating from Atlantic Ocean flows to enhance ozone accumulation as ozone maximum concentration occurs when it takes over the region. On the other hand, north easterly counterpart depletes ozone concentration thereby producing minimum ozone during the dry season.