Ozone seasonal evolution and photochemical production regime in the polluted troposphere in eastern China derived from high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometry (FTS) observations

Abstract

The seasonal evolution of O3 and its photochemical production regime in a polluted region of eastern China between 2014 and 2017 has been investigated using observations. We used tropospheric ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), and formaldehyde (HCHO, a marker of VOCs (volatile organic compounds)) partial columns derived from high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometry (FTS); tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2, a marker of NOx (nitrogen oxides)) partial column deduced from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI); surface meteorological data; and a back trajectory cluster analysis technique. A broad O3 maximum during both spring and summer (MAM/JJA) is observed; the day-to-day variations in MAM/JJA are generally larger than those in autumn and winter (SON/DJF). Tropospheric O3 columns in June are 1.55×1018 molecules cm−2 (56 DU (Dobson units)), and in December they are 1.05×1018 molecules cm−2 (39 DU). Tropospheric O3 columns in June were ∼ 50 % higher than those in December. Compared with the SON/DJF season, the observed tropospheric O3 levels in MAM/JJA are more influenced by the transport of air masses from densely populated and industrialized areas, and the high O3 level and variability in MAM/JJA is determined by the photochemical O3 production. The tropospheric-column HCHO∕NO2 ratio is used as a proxy to investigate the photochemical O3 production rate (PO3). The results show that the PO3 is mainly nitrogen oxide (NOx) limited in MAM/JJA, while it is mainly VOC or mixed VOC–NOx limited in SON/DJF. Statistics show that NOx-limited, mixed VOC–NOx-limited, and VOC-limited PO3 accounts for 60.1 %, 28.7 %, and 11 % of days, respectively. Considering most of PO3 is NOx limited or mixed VOC–NOx limited, reductions in NOx would reduce O3 pollution in eastern China.