INFLUENCE OF ZONAL WIND AND GEOMAGNETIC STORM ON OZONE VARIATION IN NIGERIA, 1996 - 2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Certification Page
Approval Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Table of contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Appendices
Abstract

CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1       Background of the study
1.2       The earth’s atmosphere
1.2.1    Temperature and layers
1.2.2    Troposphere
1.2.3    Stratosphere
1.2.4    Mesosphere
1.2.5    Thermosphere
1.2.6    Ionosphere
1.3       Winds in the atmosphere
1.3.1    Solar wind
1.3.2    Zonal wind
1.4       Our star, the sun
1.4.1    Some solar activity indices
1.4.2    Sunspots
1.4.3    Solar flares
1.4.4    Coronal Mass Ejections
1.4.5    Mg II core-to-wing ratio
1.4.6    Solar flux (F10.7)
1.5       Geomagnetic storm
1.5.1    Aurora as a feature of geomagnetic storm
1.6       Ozone layer
1.6.1    Contribution of stratosphere-troposphere exchange to surface ozone
1.6.2    Ozone and temperature distribution in the mid-atmosphere
1.6.3    Ozone depletion
1.6.4    Effects of ozone depletion
1.6.5    Ozone, weather/climate system
1.6.6    Ozone variations in the tropics
1.7       The Quasi-Biennial zonal wind Oscillation (QBO)
1.8       El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
1.9       Volcanic eruption
1.10     Area of study
1.11     Purpose of study

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0       Literature review

CHAPTER THREE: THEORY, DATA SOURCE AND METHOD OF ANALYSIS
3.1       Theory of atmospheric parameters
3.2       Transfer of angular momentum quantitatively
3.3       Sources of Data
3.4       Analysis of Data

CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS OF REULTS
4.1       Analysis
4.2       Discussion of Results

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1       Conclusions
5.2       Recommendations for future work
            REFERENCES


ABSTRACT
This work presents the significant effect of geomagnetic storm and contribution of zonal wind to ozone variation over the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The stations include; Sokoto (13.030N 05.270E), Maiduguri (12.000N 13.330E), Abuja (09.080N 07.050E), Ikeja (06.420N 03.450E), Port-Harcourt (04.850N 07.02oE) and Enugu (06.430N 07.480E). Analysis shows that increase in zonal wind enhances ozone layer in the stratosphere of the stations under study. It was equally observed that ozone variation was more pronounced in the higher latitude regions for instance, Sokoto than Enugu which is in the low latitude regions. Consequently, geomagnetic storm was noted to have contributed to ozone depletion only in Abuja station and do not have any notable effect in the other stations. Solar activity indices such as sunspot numbers and solar flux employed in this work contributed significantly to ozone depletion in all the stations except for Sokoto station where solar flux did not have any effect on the ozone depletion. It was also observed that the mean monthly ozone variation is seasonal. This work depicts that ozone depletion has a large influence during the dry season which spans from October to March than during the wet season which spans from April to September in Nigeria. This implication is that ozone was transported with the aid of zonal wind pole-ward in dry season, thereby causing reduction in both parameters (ozone column and zonal wind) at the same time and increases with zonal wind in wet season. Harmattan wind also could be a contributing factor to ozone dynamics especially in stations at higher latitude in dry season. Again, the variations of ozone in the tropics could be attributed equally to the effect of extra-tropical suction pump (ETSP) action. Consequences of our findings point to reduction of atmospheric earth parameters which invariably leads to weather patterns alteration, which consequently leads to climate change.


CHAPTER ONE
1.1              BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Ozone depletion and geomagnetic storm are among the most severe phenomena that disturb the world today. When there is ozone depletion, harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiations from the sun penetrates into the earth and affect human health and ecosystem in general. Ozone depletion and geomagnetic storm generally contribute to climate change. Some research works have suggested that geomagnetic storm is always associated with ozone variation in the mid-latitude. Until now, no scientific work has been carried out to ascertain this fact. Also, researchers have hitherto considered the zonal wind to be weak at the tropics (where Nigeria is located) hence, dynamical processes around the low and mid-latitude have not been adequately considered.


As a secondary pollutant, ozone is not emitted directly but is generated in the atmosphere through a complex series of chemical reactions initiated by absorption of solar energy (Seinfeld and Pandis, 1998). The atmospheric wind influences the time of occurrence of the daytime ozone maximum. Increase in air temperature as a result of intense solar radiation causes an increase in the variation of total ozone. This is because ozone in the stratosphere is created and destroyed primarily by ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. That is; ozone is formed when oxygen molecules absorb UV radiation and split apart into two oxygen atoms (O), which combine with other oxygen molecules (O2), to form ozone molecules (O3). Ozone is also broken apart as it absorbs UV radiation. In this way, UV helps sustain the natural balance of ozone in the stratosphere, while ozone in turn absorbs UV, protecting life on earth from these harmful radiations.


The solar chromospheric activity in the ultraviolet region is of great importance to our understanding of both the physical properties of the sun as a star, and of the solar influence on the earth's stratospheric chemistry. Okeke (2012) noted that how sun’s magnetic field connects with the geomagnetic field determines how solar activity affects the earth. The interaction between the solar plasma and the earth's magnetic field causes a number of current systems to develop in the magnetosphere during a magnetic storm. In other words, compression of the...

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