Analysis of the Relationship between Changes in Meteorological Conditions and the Variation in Summer Ozone Levels over the Central Kanto Area

Abstract

An increasing trend in ground-level ozone () concentrations has recently been recognized in Japan, although concentrations of ozone precursors, nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) have decreased. In this paper, the relationship between meteorological factors (temperature and wind speed) and ground-level ozone concentrations in the summer over the central Kanto area of Japan was examined using both statistical analyses and numerical models. The Fifth-Generation NCAR/Penn State Mesoscale Model (MM5) and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model were employed in this study. It was found that there is a close relationship between meteorological conditions and ground-level ozone concentrations over the central Kanto area. In summer, up to 84% of the long-term variation in peak ozone concentrations may be accounted for by changes in the seasonally averaged daily maximum temperature and seasonally averaged wind speed, while about 70% of the recent short-term variation in peak ozone depends on the daily maximum temperature and the daily averaged wind speed. The results of numerical simulations also indicate that urban heat island (UHI) phenomena can play an important role in the formation of high ozone concentrations in this area.

Long-Term Variations of Air Quality Influenced by Surface Ozone in a Coastal Site in India: Association with Synoptic Meteorological Conditions with Model Simulations

“…Variations in meteorological parameters influence the efficiency of photochemical production and loss of surface O 3 [38,80]. Solar radiation and enhanced air temperatures play catalytic roles in chemical reactions, leading to surface O 3 formation [81].…”

“…Changes in local weather conditions can greatly affect the surface O 3 concentrations [29][30][31][32]. Therefore, analyzing the long-term variations in weather change that occur at a particular location is very useful for understanding the concentration of surface O 3 concentrations [33][34][35][36][37][38]. Many studies [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] on the variations of O 3 and its precursor gases revealed that higher surface O 3 concentrations were observed in summer/autumn seasons and lower concentrations were observed during monsoon season.…”

Three Days Ahead Prediction of Daily 12 Hour Ozone (O3) Concentrations for Urban Area in Malaysia

“…The variables selected in this study are based on previous study of O 3 concentrations level (Table 1) Meteorological variable: Khiem et al (2010) found that the low wind speed which associated with the other meteorological conditions has a high ability to contribute O 3 concentrations. Urban area has very little difference of O 3 concentrations level with rural area during high wind speeds (Husar and Renard, 1997).…”

The impact of air pollutants on rainwater chemistry during “urban‐induced heavy rainfall” in downtown Tokyo, Japan

“…The impacts of UHI include elevated emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases, such as sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen oxide (NO x ), volatile organic compounds (VOC s ), particulate matter, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and mercury (Hg). In addition to energy‐related elevated emissions, high temperatures can directly increase the rate of ground‐level formation of ozone [ Kheim et al, ; Ooka et al, ], which is formed when NO x and VOC s react in the presence of sunlight and hot weather. Further oxidation of NO 2 and SO 2 by ozone and hydroxyl radicals form HNO 3 and H 2 SO 4 , which react with NH 3 to form hygroscopic aerosols such as NH 4 NO 3 , NH 4 HSO 4 , and (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 .…”