University of Rwanda, College of Sciences and Technology, Nyarugenge campus, department of applied chemistry P.O Box 3900, Kigali Rwanda
Rwanda

University of Rwanda, College of Sciences and Technology, Nyarugenge campus, department of applied chemistry P.O Box 3900, Kigali Rwanda
Rwanda

Ground level ozone is a secondary pollutant resulting from photochemical reaction of a variety of natural and anthropogenic precursor mainly volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Under favourable meteorological conditions, ozone may accumulate in the atmosphere and reach a high concentration level that can impose adverse effects on human health and ecosystem. The overall objective of the study is to evaluate the ground level ozone time series concentrations for three years period (From 18th June 2009 to 6th June 2011) in Rwanda with focus on Kigali city as it has an increasing number of vehicles and many industries which are the major potential sources of ground level ozone sources in Kigali City. We have gathered the data from the database air monitoring machine about the ground level ozone concentration located in Kigali at the college of science and technology of University of Rwanda laboratory and the weather information from Rwanda Meteorological Services were used to for the discussion of the ozone data. The study shows that the weather patterns play an important role in establishing conditions conducive to the ground level ozone formation and accumulation. The air of Kigali city becomes more polluted during the dry season and the concentration of the ground level ozone increases with the temperature. Comparing the ground level ozone concentration in different season, the results showed that the concentration of ground level ozone was higher in dry season than in the rainy season. This might be related to the wind direction and high wind speed which was observed during the rainy season and low precipitation observed during the dry season.

ground level Ozone, time series, seasons