Author(s)

Pêlèmayo Raoul Touré^1*, Georges Kouame Kouadio^1,2, Urbain Kouakou Koffi², Charles Romaric Beugré³

¹Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics and Fluid Mechanics (LAPA-MF), Félix Houphouët-Boigny University, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
²Physcal Science Laboratory of the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Abidjan (ENS), Abidjan, Côte d’ivoire.
³Laboratory of physical chemistry, Félix Houphouët-Boigny University, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

From January 1995 to December 2004, 860 rainwater samples were collected in the humid savannah of Lamto. Using the Henry’s law, we determined the content of formic and acetic acids in the air based on their concentrations in rainwater. The annual partial pressure of both formic and acetic acids over the decade is variable. It covers a range of 0.003 (1998) to 0.21 ppbv (1996) and 0.27 (1999) to 0.47 ppbv (1996) for formic and acetic acids respectively. Also, the partial pressure in the dry season is higher than that in the wet season. This difference is related to the enrichment of the organic acid content in the air by the various sources that produce these acids. One of the main sources of increment in organic acid is biomass burning. This biomass burning contributes between 21% and 51% to the formation of the two acids in the humid savannah of Lamto. Ultimately the average annual organic acidity varies from 40% to 60% over the ten years period.

Formic Acid, Acetic Acid, Organic Acidity, Biomass Burning

Touré, P. , Kouadio, G. , Koffi, U. and Beugré, C. (2016) Study of Formic and Acetic Acids in the Air of Humid Savannah Case of Lamto (Côte d’Ivoire). Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, 6, 254-266. doi: 10.4236/acs.2016.62021.