Measurement and Variability of Atmospheric Ozone

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2024 | Viewed by 1126

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Middle Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g 100029, China
Interests: vertical cloud structure; atmospheric ozone variability; ozonesonde development; aerosol remote sensing; in situ vertical aerosol measurements; vertical radiation profile; troposphere-stratosphere exchange

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ozone is a major atmospheric component and is significant for human health, ecological balance and climate change. As an important secondary pollutant, ozone in the troposphere is mainly produced in polluted air by photochemical oxidation of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight. Ozone is considered as a short-lived species in the troposphere; however, its lifetime allows a substantial impact from advection/vertical transport to enhance regional ozone pollution. Exchange between the stratosphere and troposphere can also transport stratospheric ozone downwards to induce ozone pollution in the troposphere and even the boundary layer. Advanced measurement technology, retrieval algorithms and model simulation are crucial to understand the variability characteristics of the atmospheric ozone and its forming mechanism. At present, the primary methods and platforms of ozone observations include ground-based ozone concentration sampling and remote sensing, tethered balloon, sounding balloon, airborne observation, satellite retrieval, etc. We are pleased to announce the launch of a new Special Issue entitled “Measurement and Variability of Atmospheric Ozone”, which invites contributions presenting research on the variability of atmospheric ozone based on various observation approaches and model simulations. This covers the instrument developments, retrieval algorithms, observation experiments, data analysis research, model simulations, mechanism research, etc.

Topics for this call for papers include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Development of observation instruments and retrieval algorithms of the atmospheric ozone;
  • Observation and modeling of vertical structures and variation features of atmospheric ozone as well as the ozone sources from local production, stratospheric intrusion and regional transport, etc.;
  • Characterization of climate and health effects of ozone pollution under current and future climate scenarios.

Dr. **qiang Zhang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • ozone observation
  • retrieval algorithm
  • model simulation
  • ozone variability
  • ozone sources
  • ozone pollution

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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35 pages, 20348 KiB  
Article
WRF-Chem Modeling of Tropospheric Ozone in the Coastal Cities of the Gulf of Finland
by Georgii Nerobelov, Yana Virolainen, Dmitry Ionov, Alexander Polyakov and Eugene Rozanov
Atmosphere 2024, 15(7), 775; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15070775 - 28 Jun 2024
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Abstract
Ozone in the troposphere is a pollutant and greenhouse gas. Atmospheric models can add valuable information to observations for studying the spatial and temporal variations in tropospheric ozone content. The present study is intended to evaluate the variability in tropospheric ozone and its [...] Read more.
Ozone in the troposphere is a pollutant and greenhouse gas. Atmospheric models can add valuable information to observations for studying the spatial and temporal variations in tropospheric ozone content. The present study is intended to evaluate the variability in tropospheric ozone and its precursors near the Gulf of Finland with a focus on St. Petersburg (Russia) and Helsinki (Finland) in 2016–2019, using the WRF-Chem 3-D numerical model with a spatial resolution of 10 km, together with observations. The diurnal cycle of the near-surface ozone concentrations (NSOCs) in both cities is caused by the variability in NO2 emissions, planetary boundary layer height, and local meteorological conditions. The seasonal variations in NSOCs and tropospheric ozone content (TrOC) are caused by the variability in total ozone content and in ozone formation in the troposphere. The model reveals a VOC-limited regime in the ~0–1 km layer around St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and the Gulf of Finland and a pronounced NOx-limited regime in the 0–2 km layer in the forests of southern Finland, Karelia, some Russian regions, and the Baltic countries in July. The WRF-Chem model overestimates the measured NSOCs by 10.7–43.5% and the TrOC by 7–10.4%. The observed differences are mainly caused by the errors in chemical boundary conditions and emissions of ozone precursors and by the coarse spatial resolution of the modeling. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measurement and Variability of Atmospheric Ozone)
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19 pages, 3136 KiB  
Article
Sensitivity Analysis of the Inverse Distance Weighting and Bicubic Spline Smoothing Models for MERRA-2 Reanalysis PM2.5 Series in the Persian Gulf Region
by Alina Bărbulescu and Youssef Saliba
Atmosphere 2024, 15(7), 748; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15070748 - 22 Jun 2024
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Abstract
Various studies have proved that PM2.5 pollution significantly impacts people’s health and the environment. Reliable models on pollutant levels and trends are essential for policy-makers to decide on pollution reduction. Therefore, this research presents the sensitivity analysis of the Bicubic Spline Smoothing [...] Read more.
Various studies have proved that PM2.5 pollution significantly impacts people’s health and the environment. Reliable models on pollutant levels and trends are essential for policy-makers to decide on pollution reduction. Therefore, this research presents the sensitivity analysis of the Bicubic Spline Smoothing (BSS) and Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) models built for the PM2.5 monthly series from MERRA-2 Reanalysis collected during January 2010–April 2017 in the region of the Persian Gulf, in the neighborhood of the United Arab Emirates Coast. The models’ performances are assessed using the Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). RMSE, Mean Bias Error (MBE), and Nash–Sutcliff Efficiency (NSE) were utilized to assess the models’ sensitivity to various parameters. For the IDW, the Mean RMSE decreases as the power parameter increases from 1 to approximately 4 (the optimal beta value) and then stabilizes with a further increase. NSE values close to 1 indicate that the model’s predictions are very efficient in capturing the variance of the observed data. NSE is almost constant as a function of the number of neighbors and the parameter when β > 4. In BSS, the RMSE and NBE plots suggest that incorporating more points into the mean calculation for buffer points leads to a general decrease in model accuracy. Moreover, the MBE plot shows that the mean bias error initially increases with the number of points but then starts to plateau. The increasing trend suggests that the model tends to systematically overestimate the PM2.5 values as more points are included. The leveling-off of the curve indicates that beyond a certain number of points, the bias introduced by including additional points does not significantly increase, suggesting a threshold beyond which further inclusion of points does not markedly change the mean bias. It was also proved that the methods’ generalizability may depend on the dataset’s specific spatial characteristics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measurement and Variability of Atmospheric Ozone)

Review

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14 pages, 481 KiB  
Review
Tropospheric Ozone: A Critical Review of the Literature on Emissions, Exposure, and Health Effects
by Gabriele Donzelli and Maria Morales Suarez-Varela
Atmosphere 2024, 15(7), 779; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15070779 - 29 Jun 2024
Viewed by 245
Abstract
Tropospheric ozone is a significant air pollutant with severe adverse effects on human health. The complex dynamics of ozone formation, distribution, and health impacts underscore the need for a comprehensive understanding of this pollutant. Despite well-documented health risks, including an estimated 423,100 deaths [...] Read more.
Tropospheric ozone is a significant air pollutant with severe adverse effects on human health. The complex dynamics of ozone formation, distribution, and health impacts underscore the need for a comprehensive understanding of this pollutant. Despite well-documented health risks, including an estimated 423,100 deaths annually due to ozone exposure, millions of people in major countries continue to be exposed to unhealthy levels. Notably, the epidemiological evidence linking long-term ozone exposure to health outcomes is limited compared to short-term exposure studies, leaving some findings incomplete. Regulatory standards vary globally, with the implementation of the World Health Organization recommendation for an 8-h average limit of 50 ppb to protect public health remaining heterogeneous, leading to significant disparities in adoption across countries, and often significantly higher. Emissions from diesel and gasoline vehicles are major sources of VOCs and NOx in urban areas, and their reduction is a key strategy. Additionally, climate change may exacerbate ozone pollution through increased natural precursor emissions, leading to higher ground-level ozone in polluted regions, like the eastern US, southern Europe, and parts of Asia. Addressing tropospheric ozone effectively requires an integrated approach that considers both natural and anthropogenic sources to reduce concentrations and mitigate health impacts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measurement and Variability of Atmospheric Ozone)
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