STUDY OF TROPOSPHERIC OZONE IN THE TROPICAL BELT (AFRICA, AMERICA) FROM STRATOZ AND TROPOZ CAMPAIGNS

During three large-scale airborne scientific missions (STRATOZ III: June 1984; STRATOZ III-S: March 1985; TROPOZ I: December 1987), the distributions of ozone and its precursors were measured in the tropical belt over the American and African continents, within an altitude range of 0-12 km. The results reveal an important difference between the northern part of South America, characterized in June by an important O3 depletion, and West Africa, where high O3 contents are observed as a result of enhanced formation from bush fires during a large period of the year. O3 concentrations as high as 160 ppb were observed in the neighborhood of emission areas, corresponding to formation rates on the order of several tens of ppb per hour. © 1990.