CO₂-TEA, MID-INFRARED, LASER-BASED DIAL SYSTEM: FEATURING OZONE DYNAMICS DURING A “VEHICLE-FREE” DAY

Abstract

Long-path ozone integrated measurements with a CO 2 -laser DIAL system were performed in Madrid City during a ''vehicle-free'' day. The results showed a strong correlation between human activity and ozone photochemical generation. The ozone concentration follows, even quantitatively, the same trend of the overall traffic intensity as long as both UV-B radiation and NO 2 are present. An average decrease of 12.3 AE 1.2% of the intensity of vehicle traffic during the ''free-vehicle''day resulted in a lowering the ozone burden by almost 14.4 AE 1.4%. This new type of information can stimulate the development of local models to understand the dynamic underlying urban pollution. The results, indeed, show the effectiveness of such a measure to reduce the ozone burden on human and plant health.