Articles | Volume 23, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4031-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4031-2023
Research article
 | 
05 Apr 2023
Research article |  | 05 Apr 2023

Why is ozone in South Korea and the Seoul metropolitan area so high and increasing?

Nadia K. Colombi, Daniel J. Jacob, Laura Hyesung Yang, Shixian Zhai, Viral Shah, Stuart K. Grange, Robert M. Yantosca, Soontae Kim, and Hong Liao

Related authors

Air quality trends and regimes in South Korea inferred from 2015–2023 surface and satellite observations
Yujin J. Oak, Daniel J. Jacob, Drew C. Pendergrass, Ruijun Dang, Nadia K. Colombi, Heesung Chong, Seoyoung Lee, Su Keun Kuk, and Jhoon Kim
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3485,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3485, 2024
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Intercomparison of GEOS-Chem and CAM-chem tropospheric oxidant chemistry within the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2)
Haipeng Lin, Louisa K. Emmons, Elizabeth W. Lundgren, Laura Hyesung Yang, Xu Feng, Ruijun Dang, Shixian Zhai, Yunxiao Tang, Makoto M. Kelp, Nadia K. Colombi, Sebastian D. Eastham, Thibaud M. Fritz, and Daniel J. Jacob
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8607–8624, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8607-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8607-2024, 2024
Short summary
Interpreting Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) geostationary satellite observations of the diurnal variation in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over East Asia
Laura Hyesung Yang, Daniel J. Jacob, Ruijun Dang, Yujin J. Oak, Haipeng Lin, Jhoon Kim, Shixian Zhai, Nadia K. Colombi, Drew C. Pendergrass, Ellie Beaudry, Viral Shah, Xu Feng, Robert M. Yantosca, Heesung Chong, Junsung Park, Hanlim Lee, Won-Jin Lee, Soontae Kim, Eunhye Kim, Katherine R. Travis, James H. Crawford, and Hong Liao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7027–7039, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7027-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7027-2024, 2024
Short summary
Coarse particulate matter air quality in East Asia: implications for fine particulate nitrate
Shixian Zhai, Daniel J. Jacob, Drew C. Pendergrass, Nadia K. Colombi, Viral Shah, Laura Hyesung Yang, Qiang Zhang, Shuxiao Wang, Hwajin Kim, Yele Sun, Jin-Soo Choi, Jin-Soo Park, Gan Luo, Fangqun Yu, Jung-Hun Woo, Younha Kim, Jack E. Dibb, Taehyoung Lee, Jin-Seok Han, Bruce E. Anderson, Ke Li, and Hong Liao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4271–4281, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4271-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4271-2023, 2023
Short summary
Tropospheric NO2 vertical profiles over South Korea and their relation to oxidant chemistry: implications for geostationary satellite retrievals and the observation of NO2 diurnal variation from space
Laura Hyesung Yang, Daniel J. Jacob, Nadia K. Colombi, Shixian Zhai, Kelvin H. Bates, Viral Shah, Ellie Beaudry, Robert M. Yantosca, Haipeng Lin, Jared F. Brewer, Heesung Chong, Katherine R. Travis, James H. Crawford, Lok N. Lamsal, Ja-Ho Koo, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2465–2481, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2465-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2465-2023, 2023
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Gases | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Seasonal, regional, and vertical characteristics of high-carbon-monoxide plumes along with their associated ozone anomalies, as seen by IAGOS between 2002 and 2019
Thibaut Lebourgeois, Bastien Sauvage, Pawel Wolff, Béatrice Josse, Virginie Marécal, Yasmine Bennouna, Romain Blot, Damien Boulanger, Hannah Clark, Jean-Marc Cousin, Philippe Nedelec, and Valérie Thouret
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13975–14004, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13975-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13975-2024, 2024
Short summary
The potential of drone observations to improve air quality predictions by 4D-Var
Hassnae Erraji, Philipp Franke, Astrid Lampert, Tobias Schuldt, Ralf Tillmann, Andreas Wahner, and Anne Caroline Lange
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13913–13934, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13913-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13913-2024, 2024
Short summary
Process analysis of elevated concentrations of organic acids at Whiteface Mountain, New York
Christopher Lawrence, Mary Barth, John Orlando, Paul Casson, Richard Brandt, Daniel Kelting, Elizabeth Yerger, and Sara Lance
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13693–13713, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13693-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13693-2024, 2024
Short summary
Ozone source attribution in polluted European areas during summer 2017 as simulated with MECO(n)
Markus Kilian, Volker Grewe, Patrick Jöckel, Astrid Kerkweg, Mariano Mertens, Andreas Zahn, and Helmut Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13503–13523, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13503-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13503-2024, 2024
Short summary
Opinion: Challenges and needs of tropospheric chemical mechanism development
Barbara Ervens, Andrew Rickard, Bernard Aumont, William P. L. Carter, Max McGillen, Abdelwahid Mellouki, John Orlando, Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, Paul Seakins, William R. Stockwell, Luc Vereecken, and Timothy J. Wallington
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13317–13339, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13317-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13317-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Anenberg, S. C., Mohegh, A., Goldberg, D. L., Kerr, G. H., Brauer, M., Burkart, K., Hystad, P., Larkin, A., Wozniak, S., and Lamsal, L.: Long-term trends in urban NO2 concentrations and associated paediatric asthma incidence: estimates from global datasets, The Lancet Planetary Health, 6, e49–e58, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00255-2, 2022. 
Anwar, M. N., Shabbir, M., Tahir, E., Iftikhar, M., Saif, H., Tahir, A., Murtaza, M. A., Khokhar, M. F., Rehan, M., Aghbashlo, M., Tabatabaei, M., and Nizami, A.-S.: Emerging challenges of air pollution and particulate matter in China, India, and Pakistan and mitigating solutions, J. Hazard. Mater., 416, 125851, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125851, 2021. 
Bae, M., Kim, B.-U., Kim, H. C., Kim, J., and Kim, S.: Role of emissions and meteorology in the recent PM2.5 changes in China and South Korea from 2015 to 2018, Environ. Pollut., 270, 116233, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116233, 2021. 
Bates, K. H., Jacob, D. J., Li, K., Ivatt, P. D., Evans, M. J., Yan, Y., and Lin, J.: Development and evaluation of a new compact mechanism for aromatic oxidation in atmospheric models, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18351–18374, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18351-2021, 2021. 
Bauwens, M., Verreyken, B., Stavrakou, T., Müller, J.-F., and Smedt, I. D.: Spaceborne evidence for significant anthropogenic VOC trends in Asian cities over 2005–2019, Environ. Res. Lett., 17, 015008, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac46eb, 2022. 
Download
Short summary
Surface ozone, detrimental to human and ecosystem health, is very high and increasing in South Korea. Using a global model of the atmosphere, we found that emissions from South Korea and China contribute equally to the high ozone observed. We found that in the absence of all anthropogenic emissions over East Asia, ozone is still very high, implying that the air quality standard in South Korea is not practically achievable unless this background external to East Asia can be decreased.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint