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Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control...
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Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 16374

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Guiqian Tang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Interests: ozone; vertical observation; volatile organic compounds; boundary layer meteorology
Prof. Dr. Dongsheng Ji

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: ozone; VOCs; PM2.5; chemical composition
Dr. Xiaolan Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Atmospheric Environment, China Meteorological Administration, Shenyang 110166, China
Interests: boundary layer meteorology; air pollution; field observation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the implementation of the Clean Air Plan since 2013, China’s particulate pollution has improved significantly, but ozone pollution has deteriorated. Given this increase in ozone concentration, the scientific community has discussed the reasons and believes that there are three possibilities. First, global warming leads to an increase in VOCs emitted by vegetation. The increase in temperature and VOCs drives the increase in the ozone background value. Second, because the response between ozone and precursors is nonlinear, inappropriate precursor emission reduction strategies lead to an increase in ozone. Third, the sharp decrease in particulate matter concentration may lead to the enhancement of radiation and decrease in HO2 uptake on particulate matter, resulting in an increase in ozone concentration. The respective contribution of the above three reasons is still uncertain.

This Special Issue aims to present original research (including review articles) investigating ozone pollution in China, focusing on ozone and its precursors in urban, rural, and background environments. Relevant topics include but are not limited to:

  1. Distribution and variation of ozone and its precursors;
  2. Relationship between ozone and climate change or meteorology;
  3. Responses of ozone to its precursors as well as policy-related studies for ozone pollution control.

Contributions from field observations, smog chamber simulation, air quality model, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are all welcome.

Dr. Guiqian Tang
Prof. Dr. Dongsheng Ji
Dr. Xiaolan Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ozone distribution
  • nitrogen oxide
  • volatile organic compounds
  • ozone sensitivity
  • meteorology

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2353 KiB  
Article
Understanding Temporal Patterns and Determinants of Ground-Level Ozone
by Junshun Wang, Jin Dong, Jingxian Guo, Panli Cai, Runkui Li, Xiaoping Zhang, Qun Xu and Xianfeng Song
Atmosphere 2023, 14(3), 604; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14030604 - 22 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1629
Abstract
Ground-level ozone pollution causes adverse health effects, and the detailed influences of meteorological factors and precursors on ozone at an hourly scale need to be further understood. We conducted an in-depth analysis of the phase relationships and periods of ground-level ozone in Shunyi [...] Read more.
Ground-level ozone pollution causes adverse health effects, and the detailed influences of meteorological factors and precursors on ozone at an hourly scale need to be further understood. We conducted an in-depth analysis of the phase relationships and periods of ground-level ozone in Shunyi station, Beijing, and contributing factors using wavelet analysis and geographic detectors in 2019. The combined effects of different factors on ozone were also calculated. We found that temperature had the strongest influence on ozone, and they were in phase over time. NO2 had the greatest explanatory power for the temporal variations in ozone among precursors. The wavelet power spectrum indicated that ozone had a periodic effect on multiple time scales, the most significant being the 22–26 h period. The wavelet coherence spectrum showed that in January–March and October–December, NO2 and ozone had an antiphase relationship, largely complementary to the in-phase relationship of temperature and ozone. Thus, the main influencing factors varied during the year. The interactions of temperature with NO2 significantly affected the temporal variations in ozone, and explanatory power surpassed 70%. The findings can deepen understanding of the effects of meteorological factors and precursors on ozone and provide suggestions for mitigating ozone pollution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures)
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16 pages, 4321 KiB  
Article
Estimation of Short-Term and Long-Term Ozone Exposure Levels in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region Based on Geographically Weighted Regression Model
by Zequn Qiao, Yusi Liu, Chen Cui, Mei Shan, Yan Tu, Yaxin Liu, Shiwen Xu, Ke Mi, Li Chen, Zhenxing Ma, Hui Zhang, Shuang Gao and Yanling Sun
Atmosphere 2022, 13(10), 1706; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13101706 - 17 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1297
Abstract
In recent years, ozone (O3) concentration has shown a decreasing trend in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region in China. However, O3 pollution remains a prominent problem. Accurate estimation of O3 exposure levels can provide support for epidemiological studies. A total [...] Read more.
In recent years, ozone (O3) concentration has shown a decreasing trend in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region in China. However, O3 pollution remains a prominent problem. Accurate estimation of O3 exposure levels can provide support for epidemiological studies. A total of 13 variables were combined to estimate short- and long-term O3 exposure levels using the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model in the BTH region with a spatial resolution of 1 × 1 km from 2017 to 2020. Five variables were left in the GWR model. O3 concentration was positively correlated with temperature, wind speed, and SO2, whereas is was negatively correlated with precipitation and NO2. Results showed that the model performed well. Leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) R2 for short- and long-term simulation results were 0.91 and 0.71, and the values for RMSE were 11.14 and 3.49 μg/m3, respectively. The annual maximum 8 h average O3 concentration was the highest in 2018 and the lowest in 2020. Decreasing concentrations of major precursors of O3 due to the regional joint prevention and control may be the reason. O3 concentration was high in the southeast of the BTH region, including in Hengshui, Handan, Xingtai and Cangzhou. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures)
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21 pages, 7666 KiB  
Article
Spatio-Temporal Prediction of Ground-Level Ozone Concentration Based on Bayesian Maximum Entropy by Combining Monitoring and Satellite Data
by Shiwen Xu, Chen Cui, Mei Shan, Yaxin Liu, Zequn Qiao, Li Chen, Zhenxing Ma, Hui Zhang, Shuang Gao and Yanling Sun
Atmosphere 2022, 13(10), 1568; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13101568 - 26 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1675
Abstract
Ozone (O3) pollution is one of the predominant environmental problems, and exposure to high O3 concentrations has a significant negative influence on both human health and ecosystems. Therefore, it is essential to analyze spatio-temporal characteristics of O3 distribution and [...] Read more.
Ozone (O3) pollution is one of the predominant environmental problems, and exposure to high O3 concentrations has a significant negative influence on both human health and ecosystems. Therefore, it is essential to analyze spatio-temporal characteristics of O3 distribution and to evaluate O3 exposure levels. In this study, O3 monitoring and satellite data were used to estimate O3 daily, seasonal and one-year exposure levels based on the Bayesian maximum entropy (BME) model with a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, China. Leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) results showed that R2 for daily and one-year exposure levels were 0.81 and 0.69, respectively, and the corresponding values for RMSE were 19.58 μg/m3 and 4.40 μg/m3, respectively. The simulation results showed that the heavily polluted areas included Tianjin, Cangzhou, Hengshui, Xingtai, and Handan, while the clean areas were mainly located in Chengde, Qinhuangdao, Baoding, and Zhangjiakou. O3 pollution in summer was the most severe with an average concentration of 134.5 μg/m3. In summer, O3 concentrations in 87.7% of the grids were more than 100 μg/m3. In contrast, winter was the cleanest season in the BTH region, with an average concentration of 51.1 μg/m3. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures)
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16 pages, 3519 KiB  
Article
Establishment of a Combined Model for Ozone Concentration Simulation with Stepwise Regression Analysis and Artificial Neural Network
by Jie Yu, Lingxuan Xu, Shuang Gao, Li Chen, Yanling Sun, Jian Mao and Hui Zhang
Atmosphere 2022, 13(9), 1371; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13091371 - 26 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1397
Abstract
With the development of industrialization and the increase in the number of motor vehicles in megacities in China, ozone pollution has become a prominent problem. Although different models have been used on ozone concentration simulation, the accuracy of different models still varies. In [...] Read more.
With the development of industrialization and the increase in the number of motor vehicles in megacities in China, ozone pollution has become a prominent problem. Although different models have been used on ozone concentration simulation, the accuracy of different models still varies. In this study, the performance of two models including a linear stepwise regression (SR) model and a non-linear artificial neural network (ANN) model on the simulation of ozone concentration were analyzed in the Jing-Jin-Ji region, which is one of the most polluted areas in China. Results showed that the performance of the ANN model (adjusted R2 = 0.8299, RMSE = 22.87, MAE = 16.92) was better than the SR model (adjusted R2 = 0.7324, RMSE = 28.61, MAE = 22.30). The performance of the ANN on simulating an ozone pollution event was better than the SR model since a higher probability of detection (POD) and threat score (TS) values were obtained by the ANN model. The model performance for spring, autumn and winter was generally higher than that for summer, which may because the weights of factors on simulating high and low ozone concentrations were different. The method proposed by this study can be used in ozone concentration estimation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures)
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16 pages, 6402 KiB  
Article
Characteristics and Causes of Ozone Pollution in 16 Cities of Yunnan Plateau
by Jianwu Shi, Zhijun Wang, Chenyang Zhao, Xinyu Han, Jianmin Wang, Xiaoxi Yang, Haitao Xie, Pingwei Zhao and Ping Ning
Atmosphere 2022, 13(8), 1177; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13081177 - 25 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1366
Abstract
In order to study the characteristics and causes of ozone (O3) pollution in 16 cities of Yunnan Plateau, the methods of COD, backward trajectory and potential source contribution function (PSCF) were used to analyze the O3 concentrations from 2015 to [...] Read more.
In order to study the characteristics and causes of ozone (O3) pollution in 16 cities of Yunnan Plateau, the methods of COD, backward trajectory and potential source contribution function (PSCF) were used to analyze the O3 concentrations from 2015 to 2020 of all state-controlled environmental monitoring stations in 16 cities of Yunnan. The results show that the O3 concentrations in Yunnan gradually increased from 2015 to 2019, and the concentration in 2020 was the lowest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The peak O3 concentration appears in spring. The daily change trend is a typical single peak shape, the lowest value appears around 8: 00, and the highest value is between 15:00 and 16:00. High concentrations of O3 are from the cities of Zhaotong and Kunming in northeastern Yunnan, while low concentrations of O3 mainly occur in the southwest and northwest border areas. Temperature and relative humidity are two meteorological parameters that have significant effect on O3 concentration. Temperature has the best correlation with O3 in winter, and relative humidity has a better correlation with O3 in autumn and winter than in spring and summer. Finally, source analysis of O3 showed that local ozone precursor emission sources and long-distance transmission from South and Southeast Asia constituted the major contributions of O3 in Yunnan. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures)
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20 pages, 19729 KiB  
Article
Characteristics and Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds in the Nanjing Industrial Area
by Yuezheng Feng, Junlin An, Guiqian Tang, Yuxin Zhang, Junxiu Wang and Huan Lv
Atmosphere 2022, 13(7), 1136; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13071136 - 18 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1637
Abstract
In this study, 56 volatile organic compounds species (VOCs) and other pollutants (NO, NO2, SO2, O3, CO and PM2.5) were measured in the northern suburbs of Nanjing from September 2014 to August 2015. The total [...] Read more.
In this study, 56 volatile organic compounds species (VOCs) and other pollutants (NO, NO2, SO2, O3, CO and PM2.5) were measured in the northern suburbs of Nanjing from September 2014 to August 2015. The total volatile organic compound (TVOC) concentrations were higher in the autumn (40.6 ± 23.8 ppbv) and winter (41.1 ± 21.7 ppbv) and alkanes were the most abundant species among the VOCs (18.4 ± 10.0 ppbv). According to the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model, the VOCs were found to be from seven sources in the northern suburbs of Nanjing, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sources, gasoline vehicle emissions, iron and steel industry sources, industrial refining coke sources, solvent sources and petrochemical industry sources. One of the sources was influenced by seasonal variations: it was a diesel vehicle emission source in the spring, while it was a coal combustion source in the winter. According to the conditional probability function (CPF) method, it was found that the main contribution areas of each source were located in the easterly direction (mainly residential areas, industrial areas, major traffic routes, etc.). There were also seasonal differences in concentration, ozone formation potential (OFP), OH radical loss rate (LOH) and secondary organic aerosols potential (SOAP) for each source due to the high volatility of the summer and autumn temperatures, while combustion increases in the winter. Finally, the time series of O3 and OFP was compared to that PM2.5 and SOAP and then they were combined with the wind rose figure. It was found that O3 corresponded poorly to the OFP, while PM2.5 corresponded well to the SOAP. The reason for this was that the O3 generation was influenced by several factors (NOx concentration, solar radiation and non-local transport), among which the influence of non-local transport could not be ignored. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures)
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15 pages, 2241 KiB  
Article
Long-Term Variations of Meteorological and Precursor Influences on Ground Ozone Concentrations in Jinan, North China Plain, from 2010 to 2020
by Jing Sun, Shixin Duan, Baolin Wang, Lei Sun, Chuanyong Zhu, Guolan Fan, Xiaoyan Sun, Zhiyong Xia, Bo Lv, Jiaying Yang and Chen Wang
Atmosphere 2022, 13(6), 994; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13060994 - 20 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1759
Abstract
Ground-level ozone (O3) pollution in the North China Plain has become a serious environmental problem over the last few decades. The influence of anthropogenic emissions and meteorological conditions on ozone trends have become the focus of widespread research. We studied the [...] Read more.
Ground-level ozone (O3) pollution in the North China Plain has become a serious environmental problem over the last few decades. The influence of anthropogenic emissions and meteorological conditions on ozone trends have become the focus of widespread research. We studied the long-term ozone trends at urban and suburban sites in a typical city in North China and quantified the contributions of anthropogenic and meteorological factors. The results show that urban O3 increased and suburban O3 decreased from 2010 to 2020. The annual 90th percentile of the maximum daily 8-h average of ozone in urban areas increased by 3.01 μgm−3year−1 and, in suburban areas, it decreased by 3.74 μgm−3year−1. In contrast to the meteorological contributions, anthropogenic impacts are the decisive reason for the different ozone trends in urban and suburban areas. The rapid decline in nitrogen oxides (NOX) in urban and suburban areas has had various effects. In urban areas, this leads to a weaker titration of NOX and enhanced O3 formation, while in suburban areas, this weakens the photochemical production of O3. Sensitivity analysis shows that the O3 formation regime is in a transition state in both the urban and suburban areas. However, this tends to be limited to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urban areas and to NOX in suburban areas. One reasonable approach to controlling ozone pollution should be to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions while strengthening the control of VOCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures)
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14 pages, 2605 KiB  
Article
Atmospheric Carbonyl Compounds in the Central Taklimakan Desert in Summertime: Ambient Levels, Composition and Sources
by Chunmei Geng, Shijie Li, Baohui Yin, Chao Gu, Yingying Liu, Liming Li, Kangwei Li, Yujie Zhang, Merched Azzi, Hong Li, Xinhua Wang, Wen Yang and Zhipeng Bai
Atmosphere 2022, 13(5), 761; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13050761 - 08 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1835
Abstract
Although carbonyl compounds are a key species with atmospheric oxidation capacity, their concentrations and sources have not been sufficiently characterized in various atmospheres, especially in desert areas. In this study, atmospheric carbonyl compounds were measured from 16 May to 15 June 2018 in [...] Read more.
Although carbonyl compounds are a key species with atmospheric oxidation capacity, their concentrations and sources have not been sufficiently characterized in various atmospheres, especially in desert areas. In this study, atmospheric carbonyl compounds were measured from 16 May to 15 June 2018 in Tazhong in the central Taklimakan Desert, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Concentrations, chemical compositions, and sources of carbonyl compounds were investigated and compared with those of different environments worldwide. The average concentration of total carbonyls during the sampling period was 11.79 ± 4.03 ppbv. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acetone were the most abundant carbonyls, with average concentrations of 6.08 ± 2.37, 1.68 ± 0.78, and 2.52 ± 0.68 ppbv, respectively. Strong correlations between formaldehyde and other carbonyls were found, indicating same or similar sources and sinks. A hybrid single-particle Lagrangian integrated trajectory was used to analyze 72 h back trajectories. The values of C1/C2 (formaldehyde to acetaldehyde, 3.22–4.59) and C2/C3 (acetaldehyde to propionaldehyde, 15.00–17.03) from different directions and distances of the trajectories were consistent with the characteristics of a remote area. Relative to various environments, the carbonyl concentration in the Tazhong desert site was lower than that in urban areas and higher than that in suburban and remote areas, implying contributions from local primary and secondary sources. The obtained data can be used to improve the source and sink estimation of carbonyls at the regional scale. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures)
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13 pages, 3476 KiB  
Article
The Characteristics of Heavy Ozone Pollution Episodes and Identification of the Primary Driving Factors Using a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) in an Industrial Megacity of Northern China
by Liuli Diao, Xiaohui Bi, Wenhui Zhang, Baoshuang Liu, Xuehan Wang, Linxuan Li, Qili Dai, Yufen Zhang, Jianhui Wu and Yinchang Feng
Atmosphere 2021, 12(11), 1517; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12111517 - 17 Nov 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1950
Abstract
Tropospheric ozone is the only normal pollutant with a continuously increasing annual average concentration worldwide. In this study, data were monitored at the Nankai University Air Quality Research Supersite (NKAQRS) (38.99° N, 117.33° E) between 1 April, and 31 August from 2018 to [...] Read more.
Tropospheric ozone is the only normal pollutant with a continuously increasing annual average concentration worldwide. In this study, data were monitored at the Nankai University Air Quality Research Supersite (NKAQRS) (38.99° N, 117.33° E) between 1 April, and 31 August from 2018 to 2020, 33 O3 episodes from 2018 to 2020 were analyzed to reveal the characteristics of O3, VOCs and OFP during O3 episodes and to evaluate the driving factors. The O3 episodes showed a decreasing trend in terms of pollution frequency, days, heavy pollution duration and peak concentration. Ethane, acetylene, cyclopentane, and methylcyclopentane were the major types in 2020, while 1-hexene was the main component in 2019. The main ozone-contributing species in 2020 were propene cyclopentane methylcyclopentane and ethylene. Alkenes were important contributors to ozone formation. Using generalized additive models (GAMs), the explanatory variables in the study are divided into environmental and meteorological factors, and 16 impact factors are selected as explanatory variables. We found that the influence of these meteorological factors on O3 pollution was nonlinear and impacted by the interaction between variables. O3 episodes were mainly driven by meteorological and precursor (NO) factors in 2018, while meteorological conditions (T), followed by precursor (NO2) were the driving factors in 2019 and 2020, suggesting that O3 episodes were mainly driven by meteorological conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Ozone in China: Current Situation, Formation Mechanism and Control Measures)
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