Distributions of ozone and related trace gases at an urban site in western India

Abstract

Continuous in-situ measurements of surface ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) were conducted at Udaipur city in India during April 2010 to March 2011. We have analyzed the data to investigate both diurnal and seasonal variations in the mixing ratios of trace gases. The diurnal distribution of O3 showed highest values in the afternoon hours and lower values from evening till early morning. The mixing ratios of CO and NOx showed a sharp peak in the morning hours but lowest in the afternoon hours. The daily mean data of O3, CO and NOx varied in the ranges of 5–51 ppbv, 145–795 ppbv and 3–25 ppbv, respectively. The mixing ratios of O3 were highest of 28 ppbv and lowest 19 ppbv during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons, respectively. While the mixing ratios of both CO and NOx showed highest and lowest values during the winter and monsoon seasons, respectively. The diurnal pattern of O3 is mainly controlled by the variations in photochemistry and planetary boundary layer (PBL) depth. On the other hand, the seasonality of O3, CO and NOx were governed by the long-range transport associated mainly with the summer and winter monsoon circulations over the Indian subcontinent. The back trajectory data indicate that the seasonal variations in trace gases were caused mainly by the shift in long-range transport pattern. In monsoon season, flow of marine air and negligible presence of biomass burning in India resulted in lowest O3, CO and NOx values. The mixing ratios of CO and NOx show tight correlations during winter and pre-monsoon seasons, while poor correlation in the monsoon season. The emission ratio of ∆CO/∆NOx showed large seasonal variability but values were lower than those measured over the Indo Gangetic Plains (IGP). The mixing ratios of CO and NOx decreased with the increase in wind speed, while O3 tended to increase with the wind speed. Effects of other meteorological parameters in the distributions of trace gases were also noticed.