Bujumbura, Burundi, 3°S, 29°E

Introduction

In the frame of the AGACC-2 project (Advanced exploitation of Ground-based measurements Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate applications), a MAXDOAS instrument has been installed at the top of the Department of physics of the University of Burundi. This instrument, combined with a CIMEL sun photometer, measure aerosol and several ozone precursors like glyoxal (CHOCHO), formaldehyde (HCHO), and tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2). These measurements contribute to a better study of African emissions as well as the transport of biomass burning plumes from Africa to the Indian Ocean.

The MAXDOAS instrument

The CIMEL sun photometer

Instruments and operation

The BIRA-IASB MAXDOAS instrument is a full automated dual-channel system installed at the top of the University of Burundi, Bujumbura, in November 2013. It consists in a thermo-regulated box containing two spectrometers located inside the Institute building. An optical head is mounted on a commercial suntracker located outside and connected to the spectrometers via optical fibers. The optical head design is such that the telescope can be moved in a wide range of elevation (0-90°) as well as azimuth directions (0-360°). Currently, the instrument alternates direct sun measurements and off-axis measurements in two directions : towards the Tanganyika lake (85.5° from the North to the West) and to the South (-162°)

Data

MAXDOAS Data are available on request. Please, contact Michel Van Roozendael.

CIMEL data are available on the AERONET website.

List of publications

De Smedt, I., Stavrakou, T., Hendrick, F., Danckaert, T., Vlemmix, T., Pinardi, G., Theys, N., Lerot, C., Gielen, C., Vigouroux, C., Hermans, C., Fayt, C., Veefkind, P., Müller, J.-F., and Van Roozendael, M.: Diurnal, seasonal and long-term variations of global formaldehyde columns inferred from combined OMI and GOME-2 observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 15, 12241-12300, doi:10.5194/acpd-15-12241-2015, 2015 [link]