Modeling of spatial and temporal variations of ozone-NOx-VOC sensitivity based on photochemical indicators in China

Distinct responses of urban and rural O3 pollution with secondary particle changes to anthropogenic emission reductions: Insights from a case study over North China

Ozone (O3) pollution with excessive near-surface O3 levels has been an important environmental issue in China, although the anthropogenic emission reductions (AER) have improved air quality since 2013. In this study, we investigated the sensitivities of atmospheric chemical environment with the urban and rural changes to the AER targeting a typical O3 pollution episode over North China in summer 2019, by conducting two WRF-Chem simulation experiments under two scenarios of anthropogenic emission inventories of years 2012 and 2019 with the meteorological conditions in the 2019 summertime O3 pollution episode for excluding the meteorological impacts on O3 pollution. The results show that the unbalanced AER aroused more serious O3 pollution in urban and rural areas. The intense NO reduction was responsible for the significant increments of urban O3, while the falling NO2 and NO synergistically devoted to the slight O3 variations in rural areas. Induced by the recent-year AER, the urban O3 production was governed by VOCs-limited and transition regime, whereas the NOx-limited regime dominated over rural areas in North China. Also, the AER reinforced the atmospheric oxidation capacity with the elevations of atmospheric oxidants O3 and ROx radicals, strengthening the chemical conversions to secondary inorganic particles. In both urban and rural areas, the sharp drop in SO2 caused a decrease in sulfate fraction, while the enhanced AOC accelerated the transformation to nitrate even when NOx was reduced. The AER induced nitrate to occupy the principal position in secondary PM2.5 in urban and rural areas. The AER promoted daytime and suppressed nighttime the nitrate production in urban areas, and more vigorous conversion of secondary aerosols were found in rural areas with much lower AOC increments. This study provides insights from a case study over North China in distinct responses of urban and rural O3 pollution with secondary particle changes to AER in urban and rural atmospheric environment changes, with implications for an effective abatement strategy on O3 pollution.

Improving photochemical indicators for attributing ozone sensitivities in source apportionment analysis

Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (CAMx)-Decoupled Direct Method (DDM) simulations of first-order ozone (O3) sensitivity to nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions were performed and combined with modelled [Formula: see text] ratios to obtain a range of thresholds for determining O3-sensitivity regimes for different areas of China. Utilising the new threshold ranges for photochemical indicators, the method for determining O3 formation in the Ozone Source Apportionment Technology (OSAT) module within CAMx was improved by a dynamically varied threshold of [Formula: see text] ratio. The O3 concentration contributions in the newly added transition regime were apportioned to NOx and VOCs emissions in proportion to the relationship between the [Formula: see text] ratio and first-order O3 sensitivity. The source contributions of O3 concentrations from different emission sectors from June to September 2019 were compared using the original and improved CAMx-OSAT. The results showed that the O3 concentration contributions changed significantly in the NOx-limited regime, with a maximum decrease of 21.89%, while the contributions increased by up to 7.57% in the VOC-limited regime, and were within 15 µg/m3 in the transition regime. The modified OSAT module enabled a more sophisticated attribution of O3 to precursor emissions and may have far-reaching implications for informing O3 pollution control policy.

Research on ozone formation sensitivity based on observational methods: Development history, methodology, and application and prospects in China

Observation-based method for O3 formation sensitivity research is an important tool to analyze the causes of ground-level O3 pollution, which has broad application potentials in determining the O3 pollution formation mechanism and developing prevention and control strategies. This paper outlined the development history of research on O3 formation sensitivity based on observational methods, described the principle and applicability of the methodology, summarized the relative application results in China and provided recommendations on the prevention and control of O3 pollution in China based on relevant study results, and finally pointed out the shortcomings and future development prospects in this field in China. The overview study showed that the O3 formation sensitivity in some urban areas in China in recent years presented a gradual shifting tendency from the VOC-limited regime to the transition regime or the NOx-limited regime due to the implementation of the O3 precursors emission reduction policies; O3 pollution control strategies and precursor control countermeasures should be formulated based on local conditions and the dynamic control capability of O3 pollution control measures should be improved. There are still some current deficiencies in the study field in China. Therefore, it is recommended that a stereoscopic monitoring network for atmospheric photochemical components should be further constructed and improved; the atmospheric chemical mechanisms should be vigorously developed, and standardized methods for determining the O3 formation sensitivity should be established in China in the near future.

Research on regional ozone prevention and control strategies in eastern China based on pollutant transport network and FNR

O3 pollution in China has worsened sharply in recent years, and O3 formation sensitivity (OFS) in many regions have gradually changed, with eastern China as the most typical region. This study constructed the transport networks of O3 and NO2 in different seasons from 2017 to 2020. The transport trends and the clustering formation patterns were summarized by analyzing the topological characteristics of the transport networks, and the patterns of OFS changes were diagnosed by analyzing the satellite remote sensing data. Based on that, the main clusters that each province or city belongs to in different pollutant transport networks were summarized and proposals for the inter-regional joint prevention and control were put forward. As the results showed, O3 transport activity was most active in spring and summer and least active in winter, while NO2 transport activity was most active in autumn and winter and least active in summer. OFS in summer mainly consisted of transitional regimes and NOx-limited regimes, while that in other seasons was mainly VOC-limited regimes. Notably, there was a significant upward trend in the proportion of transitional regimes and NOx-limited regimes in spring, autumn, and winter. For regions showing NOx-limited regime, areas with higher out-weighted degrees in the NO2 transport network should focus on controlling local NOx emissions, such as central regions in summer. For regions showing VOC-limited regime, areas with higher out-weighted degrees in the O3 transport network should focus on controlling local VOCs emissions, such as central and south-central regions in summer. For regions that belong to the same cluster and present the same OFS in each specific season, regional cooperative emission reduction strategies should be established to block important transmission paths and weaken regional pollution consistency.

Contrasting changes in ozone during 2019-2021 between eastern and the other regions of China attributed to anthropogenic emissions and meteorological conditions

Ozone pollution is one of the most severe air quality issues in China that poses a serious threat to human health and ecosystems. During 2019-2021, the maximum daily 8-h average ozone concentrations in eastern China (110-122.5°E, 26-42°N) and the rest of China (ROC) show different decreasing patterns, with ozone concentrations in eastern China decreasing by 14.9 μg/m3, which is much larger than 4.8 μg/m3 in ROC. Here, based on two independent methods, the atmospheric chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) simulations and the machine learning (ML) model (LightGBM) predictions, the reasons for the differences in ozone changes between eastern China and ROC during the warm season (April to September) are investigated. According to the GEOS-Chem (LightGBM) results, changes in the meteorological conditions contributed to an ozone decrease by 7.3 (6.8) μg/m3 in eastern China due to decreased chemical production and an ozone decrease by 6.8 (7.0) μg/m3 in ROC attributed to the weakened horizontal and vertical advection. With the influence of meteorological factors excluded, the observations show that changes in anthropogenic emissions resulted in an ozone decrease by 7.6 (8.1) μg/m3 in eastern China and an ozone increase by 2.0 (2.2) μg/m3 in ROC, which is primarily induced by the changes in NOx emissions. The surface measurements and satellite retrievals also indicate that the reduction in NOx emissions in ROC is less efficient than that in the more developed eastern China, leading to contrasting changes in ozone concentrations between eastern China and ROC during 2019-2021. Our results highlight the critical need to reduce ozone precursor emissions in the rest regions of China apart from eastern China.

Spatial clustering and spillover pathways analysis of O3, NO2, and CO in eastern China during 2017-2021

The eastern China presented the most serious O3 pollution and increasingly prominent regional characteristics. To understand the transport characteristics of O3 and its precursors and identify their potential relationships are of great guiding significance for interregional joint prevention and control. In this study, the annual and seasonal transport networks of O3 and its precursors (NO2 and CO) during 2017-2021 were constructed by applying the complex network method to air quality observations. And the key spatial clusters, the spillover paths and the potential links among pollutants were comprehensively analyzed based on the topological characteristic analysis of the established air pollutant transport networks. As the results showed, O3 pollution in the eastern China was affected by active regional transports of O3 and its precursors. Regional transports of O3, NO2, and CO were more prominent in autumn and showed high synchronization. The regional transport of precursors, especially NOx, was an important cause of regional O3 pollution. Air pollutant transport characteristics varied with seasons and regions, which demonstrating the importance of regulating seasonal and regional differentiated joint prevention and control strategies, especially for NOx. The results of this study can provide science-based guidance for the regional cooperative control of O3 pollution in the eastern China, and the application of complex networks can also provide a new methodological perspective for the study of air pollution transmission.

Understanding ozone episodes during the TRACER-AQ campaign in Houston, Texas: The role of transport and ozone production sensitivity to precursors

This study investigated transport pathways and photochemical formation responsible for ozone exceedances during the September 2021 deployment of the Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions ExpeRiment/Air Quality (TRACER-AQ) campaign in Houston, Texas. We focused on two ozone episodes, September 6th-September 11th ("Episode 1") and September 23rd-September 26th ("Episode 2"), when the maximum daily eight-hour average (MDA8) ozone at surface monitors exceeded 70 ppbv. Long-range transport patterns of air masses during these episodes were from the central/northern US. High-resolution (4 km resolution) trajectory analysis with FLEXible PARTicle (FLEXPART) dispersion model revealed local recirculation of air masses and the accumulation of pollutants across Houston contribute to the ozone exceedances. Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (CAMx) driven by 1.33-km resolution meteorology from the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) tool simulated elevated ozone production rates during ozone episodes across the Houston metropolitan area, with ozone production hotspots mostly over Houston city and industrial districts of the Houston Ship Channel (HSC). The regional increase in ozone production rates was due to the transport of VOC-rich air masses (via northerly flows) that brought ozone precursors to the region, which ultimately caused a transition in the ozone formation tendency from generally VOC-limited to NOx-limited conditions. However, the city of Houston and the HSC remained in a VOC-limited regime because of local NOx emissions that, to some extent, preponderated the impact of transported VOCs. While approximately 37 % of the elevated ozone production was attributed to local photochemistry, the remaining ∼63 % increase in ozone production was due to the transported ozone to the region during episodes, bringing ozone to the Houston region and contributing to ozone exceedances. The outcomes of this study illustrated the synergy between transport and ozone production, both long-range and local scale, which resulted in ozone exceedances in Houston.