First Continuous High Frequency in Situ Measurements of CO2 and CH4 in Rwanda Using Cavity Ring-down Spectroscopy

Abstract:

Recent IPCC reports emphasize the lack of ground measurements of greenhouse gases on the African continent, despite Africa’s significant emissions from agriculture and biomass burning as well as ongoing land use changes. We have established a greenhouse gas monitoring station in northern Rwanda that will be part of the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE), a global network of high frequency long-term remote atmospheric measurement stations. Using a Picarro G2401 cavity ring-down analyzer, continuous measurements of CO₂, CH₄, and CO at a frequency of five seconds are being captured at this equatorial East African site. The measurement site is located near the Virunga mountains, a volcanic range in North-West Rwanda, on the summit of Mt. Mugogo (2507 m above sea level). Mt. Mugogo is located in a rural area 70km away from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, and about 13km from the nearest town. From HYSPLIT 7-day back-trajectory calculations, we have determined that the station measures air masses originating from East and Central Africa, the Indian Ocean and occasionally from Southern Asia. Depending on the wind direction and local boundary layer height, measurements taken at Mt Mugogo are occasionally influenced by local sources, including emissions from the nearby city and wood fires from small rural settlements around the station. Here we present the first greenhouse gas measurement data from this unique and understudied location in Africa. Using the lagrangian transport and dispersion model FLEXPART, we derive the relationship between the observed mole fractions of CO₂ and CH₄ and our current knowledge of their sources and sinks, across this large African footprint.