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Travis KR, Jacob DJ, Fisher JA, Kim PS, Marais EA, Zhu L, Yu K, Miller CC, Yantosca RM, Sulprizio MP, Thompson AM, Wennberg PO, Crounse JD, St Clair JM, Cohen RC, Laughner JL, Dibb JE, Hall SR, Ullmann K, Wolfe GM, Pollack IB, Peischl J, Neuman JA, Zhou X. Why do Models Overestimate Surface Ozone in the Southeastern United States? ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS 2016; 16:13561-13577. [PMID: 29619045 PMCID: PMC5880041 DOI: 10.5194/acp-16-13561-2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Ozone pollution in the Southeast US involves complex chemistry driven by emissions of anthropogenic nitrogen oxide radicals (NOx ≡ NO + NO2) and biogenic isoprene. Model estimates of surface ozone concentrations tend to be biased high in the region and this is of concern for designing effective emission control strategies to meet air quality standards. We use detailed chemical observations from the SEAC4RS aircraft campaign in August and September 2013, interpreted with the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model at 0.25°×0.3125° horizontal resolution, to better understand the factors controlling surface ozone in the Southeast US. We find that the National Emission Inventory (NEI) for NOx from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is too high. This finding is based on SEAC4RS observations of NOx and its oxidation products, surface network observations of nitrate wet deposition fluxes, and OMI satellite observations of tropospheric NO2 columns. Our results indicate that NEI NOx emissions from mobile and industrial sources must be reduced by 30-60%, dependent on the assumption of the contribution by soil NOx emissions. Upper tropospheric NO2 from lightning makes a large contribution to satellite observations of tropospheric NO2 that must be accounted for when using these data to estimate surface NOx emissions. We find that only half of isoprene oxidation proceeds by the high-NOx pathway to produce ozone; this fraction is only moderately sensitive to changes in NOx emissions because isoprene and NOx emissions are spatially segregated. GEOS-Chem with reduced NOx emissions provides an unbiased simulation of ozone observations from the aircraft, and reproduces the observed ozone production efficiency in the boundary layer as derived from a regression of ozone and NOx oxidation products. However, the model is still biased high by 8±13 ppb relative to observed surface ozone in the Southeast US. Ozonesondes launched during midday hours show a 7 ppb ozone decrease from 1.5 km to the surface that GEOS-Chem does not capture. This bias may reflect a combination of excessive vertical mixing and net ozone production in the model boundary layer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine R. Travis
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Daniel J. Jacob
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Jenny A. Fisher
- Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Patrick S. Kim
- Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Eloise A. Marais
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Lei Zhu
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Karen Yu
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Christopher C. Miller
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Robert M. Yantosca
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Melissa P. Sulprizio
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Paul O. Wennberg
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - John D. Crounse
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Jason M. St Clair
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Ronald C. Cohen
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | - Jack E. Dibb
- Earth System Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
| | - Samuel R. Hall
- Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Kirk Ullmann
- Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Glenn M. Wolfe
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Illana B. Pollack
- Atmospheric Science Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Jeff Peischl
- University of Colorado, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, CO, USA
- NOAA, Division of Chemical Science, Earth Systems Research Lab, Boulder, CO USA
| | - Jonathan A. Neuman
- University of Colorado, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, CO, USA
- NOAA, Division of Chemical Science, Earth Systems Research Lab, Boulder, CO USA
| | - Xianliang Zhou
- Department of Environmental Health and Toxicology, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York, USA
- Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York, USA
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Bousserez N, Attié JL, Peuch VH, Michou M, Pfister G, Edwards D, Emmons L, Mari C, Barret B, Arnold SR, Heckel A, Richter A, Schlager H, Lewis A, Avery M, Sachse G, Browell EV, Hair JW. Evaluation of the MOCAGE chemistry transport model during the ICARTT/ITOP experiment. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006jd007595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- N. Bousserez
- Laboratoire d'Aérologie; Université Paul Sabatier; Toulouse France
| | - J. L. Attié
- Laboratoire d'Aérologie; Université Paul Sabatier; Toulouse France
| | - V. H. Peuch
- Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques/Météo France; Toulouse France
| | - M. Michou
- Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques/Météo France; Toulouse France
| | - G. Pfister
- National Center for Atmospheric Research; Boulder Colorado USA
| | - D. Edwards
- National Center for Atmospheric Research; Boulder Colorado USA
| | - L. Emmons
- National Center for Atmospheric Research; Boulder Colorado USA
| | - C. Mari
- Laboratoire d'Aérologie; Université Paul Sabatier; Toulouse France
| | - B. Barret
- Laboratoire d'Aérologie; Université Paul Sabatier; Toulouse France
| | - S. R. Arnold
- Institute for Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment; University of Leeds; Leeds UK
| | - A. Heckel
- Institute of Environmental Physics; Bremen Germany
| | - A. Richter
- Institute of Environmental Physics; Bremen Germany
| | - H. Schlager
- Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre; Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; Operpfaffenhofen, Wessling Germany
| | - A. Lewis
- Department of Chemistry; University of York; York UK
| | - M. Avery
- NASA Langley Research Center; Hampton Virginia USA
| | - G. Sachse
- NASA Langley Research Center; Hampton Virginia USA
| | | | - J. W. Hair
- NASA Langley Research Center; Hampton Virginia USA
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