IN MEMORIAM

Remembering Gustav Marthinus Snyman: 12 January 1930 -10 July 2023

Gerhard Held^I; Kobus Pienaar^II

^IFormerly at Instituto de Pesquisas Meteorológicas, Sao Paulo State University, Bauru, Brazil (retired since March 2014) and Eskom Technology Services International, Cleveland, South Africa (until March 2000), gerhard@gheld.net.br
^IIFormerly at School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom (retired since October 2017)

The National Association for Clean Air (NACA) mourns the passing of Gustav Snyman, an instrumental figure in atmospheric sciences in South Africa.

Born in Springs, Gustav started schooling there, but he attended numerous schools due to his father being a magistrate. He matriculated from Grey College in Bloemfontein in 1947. After considering various career possibilities during the next two years, he eventually took on a job in ISCOR's laboratory, while continuing to study analytical chemistry, receiving his Diploma in 1965.

One year later, he accepted a position at the National Building Research Institute of the CSIR. In the early 1980s, he moved to the Atmospheric Sciences Division (under Dr Ernest Carte), which had been merged with the then Air Pollution Research Group (initially under Dr Eric Halliday), under the umbrella of the National Physical Research Laboratory, which in 1989 was restructured into Earth, Marine and Atmospheric Science and Technology (Ematek) of the CSIR. Gustav was the responsible chemist for ion chromatographic analysis in the Air Quality Group, which maintained a network of some 30 particulate samplers from 1982, equipped with parallel sets of filters for PM₁₀ and PM_2.5, across the Eastern Highveld region. He also played a key role in the acid rain studies, later consolidated into the Kiepersol Joint Venture (KJV), a collaborative project between Ematek/CSIR, Eskom/TRI and relevant industries, under the umbrella of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

After his formal retirement in 1990, he continued as a consultant to the Air Quality Group of Ematek until 1991. In 1992 he accepted a consulting contract with the Environmental Sciences Group of Eskom's Technology Research and Investigations, where he became a dedicated member of the joint project with the Atmospheric Chemistry Research Group of the then Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education.

Together with the late Clive Turner, Kobus Pienaar and John Osborne, he significantly contributed to the development of the sampling and analysis techniques of biogeochemically important solid and soluble anions and cations in airborne particulate matter. He also participated actively in several field campaigns in this joint venture between 1996 and 2000 and contributed significantly to the analytical chemistry successes of these studies.

Gustav was a loyal member and active participant in NACA activities and one of the driving forces in the atmospheric science community at the time. During his active years at the CSIR, he also participated in and contributed to conferences of the South African Society for Atmospheric Sciences (SASAS). He was also an active member of the Air Pollution Liaison Committee (APOLCOM) since its establishment in 1987, which united engineers and managers of heavy industries in the Eastern Transvaal Highveld (now Mpumalanga) to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the air pollution abatement equipment at source.

During a full life of professional activities, he authored or co-authored many papers in scientific journals, conference contributions, as well as technical reports, and also significantly contributed to two chapters of "Air Pollution and its Impacts on the South African Highveld", published by the Environmental Scientific Association in 1996.

Gustav passed away on the morning of 10 July 2023 at the age of 93. We shall remember his jovial way when we were on extended field campaigns. Our sincere condolences are extended to his wife Elize, their four children, and numerous grand- and great-grandchildren.