Browsing by Author "Jepchirchir, Caroline M."

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Long-Term Assessment of Deforestation and Its Impacts on Aerosol Optical Properties and Climate Variables over Mau Forest Complex Using Multisensory Data
    (Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, 2025-09-17) Jepchirchir, Caroline M.; Khamala, Geoffrey W.; Makokha, John Wanjala
    The deforestation has profound implications on aerosol properties and climatic variables. Deforestation disrupts local climate by altering temperature, aerosol optical properties and impacting air quality and modifies precipitation patterns; and degrades vegetation health. However, the long-term impacts of deforestation on aerosol optical properties and climate variables over Mau remain not very well investigated, especially considering the context of altered anthropogenic and natural emission sources. This study bridges this gap through a comprehensive assessment of deforestation impacts on aerosol optical properties and climate variables over Mau Forest complex bounded by (0.2S, 35.2E) and (0.8S, 35.8E) using multisensory data from 2001-2024. The findings by the present study reveal predominantly negative trends of NDVI, recorded by season JF, JJAS and OND of value −6.63032E−4 ± 0.00137, −1.356E−4 ± 0.00101 and −1.31586E−4 ± 7.59717E−4, respectively, indicating a decrease in vegetation health and density over the year often linked to rainfall patterns. Decline in NDVI is influenced by deforestation, which further exacerbates the impacts of natural reduction in vegetation cover. Conversely, during the season of MAM, the trend of NDVI is generally weak positive trend of value 4.70595E−4 ± 0.00193 year−1 indicating an increase in vegetation health and density. Furthermore, the spatial trends over domain region is characterized by Aerosol optical depth (<0.2) and high value of Angstrom exponent (>1) and moderate value >0.7, is attributed by 1) deforestation for example anthropogenic activities and human activities hence released significant amounts of aerosols particles into the atmosphere 2) climate change occasioned by meteorological parameters such as temperature inversions accompanied by reduced precipitation which are favorable conditions for increased aerosol emissions leading to the enhanced AOD. Correlation between NDVI and AOD is negative, attributed to increase in deforestation rate that results in reduced NDVI values. The statistically significant impacts of deforestation on aerosols optical properties and NDVI prove the modulating role of aerosol optical properties in regional climate processes. Policymakers must prioritize emission control actions targeted at biomass burning and scientists must keep investigating high-resolution aerosol optical properties, climate interactions using integrated ground and satellite observations to advance climate impact assessment over Mau Forest complex in Kenya.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Spatiotemporal Assessment of Deforestation Effects on Aerosol Optical Characteristics and Climate Variability over the Mau Forest Complex Based on MERRA-2 Reanalysis
    (Open Access Library Journal, 2026-04-24) Jepchirchir, Caroline M.; Khamala, Geoffrey W.; Makokha, John Wanjala
    The deforestation has far-reaching effects on aerosol characteristics and climatic variables. Deforestation disrupts the local climate by altering temperature, aerosol optical properties, and impacting air quality. Further, it also modifies precipitation patterns at varied scales. Nevertheless, the long-term impacts of deforestation on climate variables and aerosol properties over Mau remain not very well explored, especially considering the context of altered natural emissions and anthropogenic sources. This study bridges this gap through an in-depth analysis of deforestation impacts on aerosol characteristics and climate variables over the Mau Forest complex bounded by (0.2S, 35.2E) and (0.8S, 35.8E) using satellite and model-derived data from 2001 to 2024. The findings of the present study reveal that Aerosol optical depth (<0.2) and Ångström exponent (>1) are predominantly attributed to deforestation and climate change. The Correlation analysis found that surface temperature has a strong negative correlation with Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), with a coefficient of <−0.3, and is influenced by deforestation activities such as land clearing, agricultural activities, and dust storms. In addition, precipitation identified a moderate positive correlation with AOD, with values ranging from 0.1 to 0.4, attributed to factors such as the complex interplay of aerosol types, size distribution, and dust and atmospheric dynamics like strong winds, which can transport aerosols over long distances, and the presence of moist air masses. Besides aerosol optical depth (AOD), Ångström Exponent (AE), precipitation, and temperature are interconnected, influencing each other through complex atmospheric processes. Increased precipitation led to reduced AOD due to wet scavenging of aerosols. On the other hand, temperature affects aerosol formation and distribution. Changes in AOD, in turn, can impact precipitation patterns and temperature through radiative forcing. In short, the investigation indicates that aerosols’ optical properties over the Mau Forest complex exhibit distinct spatial and temporal patterns driven by both human and natural processes. The statistically significant correlations with meteorological parameters such as precipitation and temperature prove the modulating role of aerosol optical properties in regional climate processes. The policymakers must therefore prioritize emission control actions targeted at biomass burning, and scientists must keep investigating high-resolution aerosol optical properties-climate interactions using integrated ground and satellite observations to advance climate impact assessment over the Mau Forest complex in Kenya.