Regional haze over the Highveld project - enlisting school pupils in climate
change research
Tal Freiman and Margot Barenbrug
 The Climatology Research Group of the University of the Witwatersrand,
together with the National Aeronautical Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard
Space Flight Centre of the United States of America, and the United States
Department of Agriculture-Forest Service embarked on an intensive science
campaign during 2002 to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of aerosol
(particle) loading over the South African Highveld.
The campaign enlisted the
participation of Grade 10 and 11 Science/Geography learners from the Gauteng,
Mpumalanga and southern Limpopo Provinces. Where possible learners from
previously disadvantaged schools were encouraged to participate.
This Regional Haze project offered learners an educational, scientific
experience extending part of their Science curriculum and applying their
knowledge to a real-life issue in their lives. Learners interacted with
scientists from the Climatology Research Group and worked with 21st Century
technology, as well as, collaborating with international organizations in the
field of aerosol and climate studies.
The data collection made use of hand-held sun photometers (see image to the
right). Sun
photometers measure how difficult it is for sunlight to pass through the Earth's
atmosphere as it interacts with pollution particles, which reduce the amount of
light and energy reaching the Earth's surface. Aerosol optical thickness is
derived through sun photometer measurements. The aerosol optical thickness gives
us a clear understanding of how much pollution is in the atmosphere, and using a
network of schools gives us a clear understanding of their spatial distribution
over the region. In the case of the Highveld, the emphasis is specifically on a
year-round influence from industrial pollutants, as the industrial heartland of
the southern Africa, as well as a seasonal biomass burning signal.
A total of 17 schools participated in the Regional Haze project (Figure 2).
An initial education presentation was made to the science learners in mid-May,
2002, shortly before the winter campaign commenced (May-June). Before the start
of the summer data collection campaign, the learners participated in a data
workshop so that they too could gain an understanding of the data they collected
and see how it was being used for "real science". The second campaign
was held during October and November. Both campaigns were extremely successfully
and some very interesting observations came out of the data collected by the
learners. A final data workshop was held for all the learners at the beginning
of the 2003 school year.
This project has been very successful in teaching learners (and their
teachers) about their environment. One pupil from Pretoria Boys' High School won
Gold at the National Science Expo Competition and is on his way to the United
States to compete there with his project. Ridhwaan Suliman entered his science
project entitled "Aerosols and Climatic Change".
The Highveld Haze project has received much interest from localised regions
but is of just as much interest in the international arena as we try to address
the questions surrounding global warming and the effect that particles from
industry and from vegetation burning are having on climate change on a regional
scale. In light of this it is essential to ensure that South Africa develops in
the most sustainable way to ensure a healthy future for generations to come.
Most importantly, this project takes 21st Century science to schools and to the
future generation of this country and puts them, and us, on the map in terms of
scientific research from the region. This project is envisaged to have a 3-year
lifetime. Project coordinators hope to extend and intensify the coverage of data collection
with an increased number of sun photometers in future campaigns. The next
campaign will be held in May/June of 2003.
More information
Contact:
Tal Freiman (tali@crg.bpb.wits.ac.za)
Margot Barenbrug (margie@crg.bpb.wits.ac.za)
Project investigators: Dr. Tal Freiman (Principal Investigator)
Miss. Margot Barenbrug
Mr Thomas Bigala
Dr. Stuart Piketh
Prof. Harold Annegarn
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