Numerical Simulation of Nocturnal Ozone Increase in Metropolitan Area of São Paulo

Viviana Vanesa Urbina Guerrero,Marcos Vinicius Bueno De Morais,Leila Droprinchinski Martins,Edmilson Dias De Freitas

doi:10.3390/ecas2020-08140

Abstract

In large cities, pollution can not only cause deaths and illness due to exposure of people to it, but it can also reduce visibility on days of high atmospheric stability and high emission of pollutants, which can even result in vehicular accidents. Ozone is an atmospheric oxidizing gas that forms in minimal amounts naturally. People’s health can be affected by the ozone present in the air they breathe, even in low concentrations, which can worsen preexisting diseases and increase hospital admissions for respiratory diseases, especially in babies, after episodes of high pollutant levels. An increase in secondary peaks during the night of this atmospheric pollutant occurs in several parts of the world, but its formation depends on the local condition. In this sense, this work aims to study the regional atmospheric characteristics for the nocturnal ozone formation in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP). For this, the Simple Photochemical Module (SPM) coupled with the BRAMS (Brazilian Developments of Regional Atmospheric Modeling System) will be used to simulate this condition for the urban region. The results showed that the secondary nocturnal maximum of ozone concentrations in MASP is related to vertical transport of this pollutant from higher levels of the atmosphere to the surface.

Highlights

Given the importance and the elements that influence the magnitude and frequency of nocturnal ozone, this work aims to study the regional characteristics of the atmosphere of the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo in the formation of secondary ozone peaks during the night
The Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) is located in southeastern Brazil, in a region of rugged topography (Figure 1), in which the city of São Paulo is located in the most central region coinciding with the valleys of the Tietê and Pinheiros rivers, between
To study at a local level the characteristics that contribute to an increase in nocturnal ozone concentrations in the MASP, two cases were simulated, when no increase is observed (0E) and when the secondary peak is observed in all air quality stations (7E)

Summary

Introduction

Pollutants are naturally present in the atmosphere due to fires, volcanic eruptions and biogenic emissions; the greatest contribution is currently associated with anthropic activities. Pollution can cause deaths and illness due to exposure of people to it, but it can reduce visibility on days of high atmospheric stability and high emission of pollutants, and can even result in vehicular accidents [2,3,4]. Several studies have shown that the meteorological condition has a great influence on the concentrations of pollutants [5,6,7,8,9]

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