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. 2021 May 28;48(10):e2021GL093668.
doi: 10.1029/2021GL093668. Epub 2021 May 18.

Comprehensive Insights Into O3 Changes During the COVID-19 From O3 Formation Regime and Atmospheric Oxidation Capacity

Shengqiang Zhu  1 , James Poetzscher  1   2 , Juanyong Shen  3 , Siyu Wang  1 , Peng Wang  4 , Hongliang Zhang  1   5
Affiliations
Free PMC article

Comprehensive Insights Into O3 Changes During the COVID-19 From O3 Formation Regime and Atmospheric Oxidation Capacity

Shengqiang Zhu et al. Geophys Res Lett. .
Free PMC article

Abstract

Economic activities and the associated emissions have significantly declined during the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has created a natural experiment to assess the impact of the emitted precursor control policy on ozone (O3) pollution. In this study, we utilized comprehensive satellite, ground-level observations, and source-oriented chemical transport modeling to investigate the O3 variations during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Here, we found that the significant elevated O3 in the North China Plain (40%) and Yangtze River Delta (35%) were mainly attributed to the enhanced atmospheric oxidation capacity (AOC) in these regions, associated with the meteorology and emission reduction during lockdown. Besides, O3 formation regimes shifted from VOC-limited regimes to NOx-limited and transition regimes with the decline of NOx during lockdown. We suggest that future O3 control policies should comprehensively consider the effects of AOC on the O3 elevation and coordinated regulations of the O3 precursor emissions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Observed and CMAQ predicted surface MDA8 O3 in China during Pre‐lockdown and Lockdown periods. The dots represent the observed MDA8 O3 values; SJZ, Shijiazhuang; BD, Baoding; GZ, Guangzhou; (b) Observed and CMAQ predicted MDA8 O3 growth rate during Pre‐lockdown and Lockdown periods (The growth rate was calculated by dividing MDA8 O3 differences between 2020 and 2019 years by the absolute MDA8 O3 values in 2019 as shown in Equation 8 in the supporting information); (c) Observed mean MDA8 O3 in the NCP, YRD, and PRD regions. CMAQ, Community Multiscale Air Quality; MDA, maximum daily.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) The CMAQ predicted results and TROPOMI satellite results for NO2 and HCHO column concentrations in NCP, YRD, and PRD regions during the Pre‐lockdown, Lockdown, and Post‐lockdown periods. (b) The predicted and satellite observed results of the O3 formation regime in the troposphere during the Pre‐lockdown, Lockdown, and Post‐lockdown periods in China. CMAQ, Community Multiscale Air Quality.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) The spatial distribution variation of simulated OH radical during the Lockdown and Pre‐lockdown periods. (b–d) the averaged ground‐level concentrations of HO2 and NO3 radicals during the Pre‐lockdown, Lockdown, and Post‐lockdown periods in NCP, YRD, and PRD regions (The uncertainty bars represented the stand deviations of all grid values in the simulation regions).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Conceptual frame representing the important roles of enhanced AOC and O3 formation regime shift in O3 elevations. The left panel illustrates the decline in NO2 during the Lockdown. AOC, atmospheric oxidation capacity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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