The International Day of Clean Air for blue skies is celebrated every year on 7 September. This Day aims to highlight air pollution and its impacts, and the urgent need to work together to improve air quality. The inaugural Day was in 2020. This year’s theme is Together for Clean Air.

This year, the Day lands fortuitously during Air Quality week in South Africa! Formal activities this week include the Annual Air Quality Governance Lekgotla and the National Association for Clean Air (NACA) annual conference. This is a chance for all of those working on air quality in South Africa to come together to discuss current issues and new research.

The Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology is well- represented at the conference, highlighting the great work happening in the Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences. The picture below highlights the students and postdoc fellow presenting at NACA.

From left, Sihle Nhalpo, Terrence Sepuru, Mbavhi Maliage, Marisa Gonzalez, Xander Oosthuysen

The presentations are entitled,

Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds concentrations at Spioenkop

Nature Reserve - Sihle Nhlapo

Assessing NO₂ concentrations over the Industrial Highveld with satellite and ground-based measurements - Terrence Sepuru

Synoptic Weather Patterns associated with Significant Dust Storm Events over South Africa - Mbavhi Maliage

The Use of Locally Calibrated Low-Cost Sensors in South Africa to Monitor Air Pollution: A Hybrid Network Approach - Marisa Gonzalez

Estimating Yield Loss due to Surface Ozone using AOT40 for Maize and Soybean across South Africa’s Highveld - Xander Oosthuysen