Ozone air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympics: effectiveness of emission restrictions

Abstract. A series of aggressive measures was launched by the Chinese government to reduce pollutant emissions from Beijing and surrounding areas during the Olympic Games. Observations at Miyun, a rural site 100 km downwind of the Beijing urban center, show significant decreases in concentrations of O₃, CO, NO_y, and SO₂ during August 2008, relative to August 2006–2007. The mean daytime mixing ratio of O₃ was lower by about 15 ppbv, reduced to 50 ppbv, in August 2008. The relative reductions in daytime SO₂, CO, and NO_y were 61%, 25%, and 21%, respectively. Changes in SO₂ and in species correlations from 2007 to 2008 indicate that emissions of SO₂, CO, and NO_x were reduced at least by 60%, 32%, and 36%, respectively, during the Olympics. Analysis of meteorological conditions and interpretation of observations using a chemical transport model suggest that although the day-to-day variability in ozone is driven mostly by meteorology, the reduction in emissions of ozone precursors associated with the Olympic Games had a significant contribution to the observed decrease in O₃ during August 2008, accounting for 80% of the O₃ reduction for the month as a whole and 45% during the Olympics Period (8–24 August). The model predicts that emission restrictions such as those implemented during the Olympics can affect O₃ far beyond the Beijing urban area, resulting in reductions in boundary layer O₃ of 2–10 ppbv over a large region of the North China Plain and Northeastern China.