New Developments in Ozone Pollution across Local, Regional, and Global Scales

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2021) | Viewed by 8503

Special Issue Editors

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Interests: atmospheric chemistry; air quality; climate-chemistry interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Department of Chemistry, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK
Interests: atmospheric chemistry; climate-chemistry interactions; methane; tropospheric ozone

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Atmosphere focuses on tropospheric ozone, an important trace gas that is harmful to humans and vegetation, active in atmospheric chemistry, and which contributes to climate change. Ozone shows highly variable distributions across different temporal and spatial scales, driven by shifts of precursor emissions and weather/climate. Newly available observations provide updated information on ozone pollution status and keep refreshing our understanding of factors controlling ozone. Global tropospheric ozone burden has been increasing, but a consensus of the magnitude and drivers has not been reached. Regionally, understanding natural and climatic influences on ozone becomes increasing important for ozone control in the US and Europe as anthropogenic emissions have gradually decreased. Studies focusing on China, an emerging ozone pollution hot spot, reveal some novel ozone formation mechanisms (e.g., interactions between ozone and particular matter) that require further research from substantial experimental and modelling studies. Furthermore, the existing global ozone observation network is not sufficient to identify ozone changes in many other regions (e.g., Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf) that are potentially suffering severe ozone pollution.

This Special Issue aims to advance the knowledge on tropospheric ozone across different spatial and temporal scales by publishing a comprehensive set of articles including reviews, cutting-edge research, and critical commentaries. We invite original studies, based on observations and/or numerical modelling, that reveal novel characteristics of ozone variability, source attribution and chemical formation of ozone and its precursors, relationships and interactions between ozone and meteorology/climate, and ozone impacts on climate, human health, and vegetation. Studies focusing on regions where ozone observations have been sparse are extremely welcome. The outputs from this Special Issue will not only help to improve local ozone air pollution control strategies but also provide a more comprehensive view of global ozone changes and assessment of their drivers and impacts.

Dr. Xiao Lu
Dr. Paul Griffiths
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • tropospheric ozone
  • precursors and sources
  • chemical mechanisms
  • observation and measurements
  • numerical modelling
  • ozone impacts

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 10243 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Change in PM2.5 and Ozone Concentrations Caused by Aerosol–Radiation Interactions and Aerosol–Cloud Interactions and the Relationship with Meteorological Factors
by Xin Zhang, Chengduo Yuan and Zibo Zhuang
Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1585; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12121585 - 29 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1666
Abstract
Aerosols can interact with other meteorological variables in the air via aerosol–radiation or aerosol–cloud interactions (ARIs/ACIs), thus affecting the concentrations of particle pollutants and ozone. The online-coupled model WRF-Chem was applied to simulate the changes in the PM2.5 (particulate matter less than [...] Read more.
Aerosols can interact with other meteorological variables in the air via aerosol–radiation or aerosol–cloud interactions (ARIs/ACIs), thus affecting the concentrations of particle pollutants and ozone. The online-coupled model WRF-Chem was applied to simulate the changes in the PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter) and ozone concentrations that are caused by these mechanisms in China by conducting three parallel sensitivity tests. In each case, availabilities of aerosol–radiation interactions and aerosol–cloud interactions were set differently in order to distinguish each pathway. Partial correlation coefficients were also analyzed using statistical tools. As suggested by the results, the ARIs reduced ground air temperature, wind speed, and planetary boundary height while increasing relative humidity in most places. Consequently, the ozone concentration in the corresponding region declined by 4%, with a rise in the local annual mean PM2.5 concentration by approximately 12 μm/m3. The positive feedback of the PM2.5 concentration via ACIs was also found in some city clusters across China, despite the overall enhancement value via ACIs being merely around a quarter to half that via ARIs. The change in ozone concentration via ACIs exhibited different trends. The ozone concentration level increased via ACIs, which can be attributed to the drier air in the south and the diminished solar radiation that is received in central and northern China. The correlation coefficient suggests that the suppression in the planetary boundary layer is the most significant factor for the increase in PM2.5 followed by the rise in moisture required for hygroscopic growth. Ozone showed a significant correlation with NO2, while oxidation rates and radiation variance were also shown to be vitally important. Full article
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15 pages, 36319 KiB  
Article
Trends and Variability of Ozone Pollution over the Mountain-Basin Areas in Sichuan Province during 2013–2020: Synoptic Impacts and Formation Regimes
by Youfan Chen, Han Han, Murong Zhang, Yuanhong Zhao, Yipeng Huang, Mi Zhou, Cong Wang, Guangyan He, Ran Huang, Bin Luo and Yongtao Hu
Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1557; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12121557 - 25 Nov 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2095
Abstract
Sichuan Province, the most industrialized and populated region in southwestern China, has been experiencing severe ozone pollution in the boreal warm season (April–September). With a surface ozone monitoring network and reanalysis dataset, we find that nearly all cities in Sichuan Province showed positive [...] Read more.
Sichuan Province, the most industrialized and populated region in southwestern China, has been experiencing severe ozone pollution in the boreal warm season (April–September). With a surface ozone monitoring network and reanalysis dataset, we find that nearly all cities in Sichuan Province showed positive increasing trends in the warm-season ozone levels. The warm-season daily maximum 8-h average (MDA8) ozone levels increased by 2.0 ppb (4.8%) year−1 as a whole, with slightly larger trends in some sites such as a site in Zigong (5.2 ppb year−1). Seasonally, the monthly ozone level in Sichuan peaks from May to August (varies with year). The predominant warm-season synoptic patterns were objectively identified based on concurrent hourly meteorological fields from ERA5. High-pressure systems promote ozone production and result in high ozone concentrations, due to strong solar radiation as well as hot and dry atmospheric conditions. The increased occurrence of high-pressure patterns probably drives the ozone increase in Sichuan. When ozone pollution is relatively weak (with MDA8 ozone around 170 μg m−3), the air quality standard could be achieved in the short term by a 25% reduction of NOx and VOCs emissions. Strengthened emission control is needed when ozone pollution is more severe. Our study provides implications for effective emission control of ozone pollution in Sichuan. Full article
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10 pages, 1686 KiB  
Article
Distinct Regimes of O3 Response to COVID-19 Lockdown in China
by Shanshan Liu, Cheng Liu, Qihou Hu, Wenjing Su, Xian Yang, Jinan Lin, Chengxin Zhang, Chengzhi Xing, Xiangguang Ji, Wei Tan, Haoran Liu and Meng Gao
Atmosphere 2021, 12(2), 184; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12020184 - 30 Jan 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3503
Abstract
Restrictions on human activities remarkably reduced emissions of air pollutants in China during the COVID-19 lockdown periods. However, distinct responses of O3 concentrations were observed across China. In the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) and Yangtze River Delta (YRD) regions, O3 concentrations were enhanced [...] Read more.
Restrictions on human activities remarkably reduced emissions of air pollutants in China during the COVID-19 lockdown periods. However, distinct responses of O3 concentrations were observed across China. In the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) and Yangtze River Delta (YRD) regions, O3 concentrations were enhanced by 90.21 and 71.79% from pre-lockdown to lockdown periods in 2020, significantly greater than the equivalent concentrations for the same periods over 2015–2019 (69.99 and 43.62%, p < 0.001). In contrast, a decline was detected (−1.1%) in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. To better understand the underlying causes for these inconsistent responses across China, we adopted the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) and ordinary linear squares (OLS) methods in this study. Statistical analysis indicated that a sharp decline in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was the major driver of enhanced O3 in the BTH region as it is a NOx-saturated region. In the YRD region, season-shift induced changes in the temperature/shortwave radiative flux, while lockdown induced declines in NO2, attributable to the rise in O3. In the PRD region, the slight drop in O3 is attributed to the decreased intensity of radiation. The distinct regimes of the O3 response to the COVID-19 lockdown in China offer important insights into different O3 control strategies across China. Full article
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