Articles | Volume 22, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9681-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9681-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
29 Jul 2022
Research article |
| 29 Jul 2022
| 29 Jul 2022
The impacts of wildfires on ozone production and boundary layer dynamics in California's Central Valley
Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources and the Air Quality Research
Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Ian C. Faloona
Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources and the Air Quality Research
Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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Ground level ozone is a hazardous air pollutant, but its drivers can appear different depending on the measurement method. We investigated Tucson, Arizona by inter-comparing satellite and ground-based air quality tools and weather data. This multi-platform approach shows that ozone and its precursors vary by time of day, season, and measurement perspective. The results showcase how semi-arid urban atmospheres are influenced by sunlight, emissions, vegetation, and vertical mixing.
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Nearly a century of ozone concentration measurements (the last half continuous) is now available in the northern mid-latitude troposphere. Atmospheric models cannot yet accurately simulate that record. We compare measured and simulated long-term changes and seasonal cycles of background ozone to quantify some model shortcomings, and suggest that their important causes may be inadequate model treatments of ozone precursor evolution and vertical transport out of the planetary boundary layer.
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Observation-based estimates of contributions to maximum ozone (O3) concentrations show that background O3 can exceed the air quality standard of 70 ppb in the southwestern US, precluding standard attainment. Over the past 4 decades, US anthropogenic O3 has decreased by a factor of ~ 6.3, while wildfire contributions have increased, so that the background now dominates maximum concentrations, even in Los Angeles, and the occurrence of maximum O3 has shifted from the eastern to the western US.
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Elevated tropospheric ozone concentrations driven by anthropogenic precursor emissions are a world-wide health and environmental concern; however, this issue lacks a generally accepted understanding of the scientific issues. Here, we briefly outline the elements required to conduct an international assessment process to establish a conceptual model of the underpinning science and motivate international policy forums for regulating ozone production over hemispheric and global scales.
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Accounting for the continuing long-term decrease of pollution ozone and the large 2020 Arctic stratospheric ozone depletion event improves estimates of background ozone changes caused by COVID-19-related emission reductions; they are smaller than reported earlier. Cooperative, international emission control efforts aimed at maximizing the ongoing decrease in hemisphere-wide background ozone may be the most effective approach to improving ozone pollution in northern midlatitude countries.
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Short summary
This work represents a unique analysis of 10 existing air quality network sites and meteorological sites, two AmeriFlux sites, and a radio acoustic sounding system in the Central Valley of California during five consecutive fire seasons, June through September, from 2016 to 2020. We find that the ozone production rate increases by ~ 50 % during wildfire influenced periods. Wildfire smoke also decreases the heat flux by 30 % and results in 12 % lower mixed-layer height.
This work represents a unique analysis of 10 existing air quality network sites and...
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