Source Contributions to Ozone Formation in the New South Wales Greater Metropolitan Region, Australia

Hiep Nguyen Duc,Yvonne Scorgie,Toan Trieu,Lisa Chang,David Salter

doi:10.3390/atmos9110443

Hiep Nguyen Duc, Yvonne Scorgie + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9110443

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Abstract

Ozone and fine particles (PM2.5) are the two main air pollutants of concern in the New South Wales Greater Metropolitan Region (NSW GMR) due to their contribution to poor air quality days in the region. This paper focuses on source contributions to ambient ozone concentrations for different parts of the NSW GMR, based on source emissions across the greater Sydney region. The observation-based Integrated Empirical Rate model (IER) was applied to delineate the different regions within the GMR based on the photochemical smog profile of each region. Ozone source contribution was then modelled using the CCAM-CTM (Cubic Conformal Atmospheric model-Chemical Transport model) modelling system and the latest air emission inventory for the greater Sydney region. Source contributions to ozone varied between regions, and also varied depending on the air quality metric applied (e.g., average or maximum ozone). Biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions were found to contribute significantly to median and maximum ozone concentration in North West Sydney during summer. After commercial and domestic sources, power generation was found to be the next largest anthropogenic source of maximum ozone concentrations in North West Sydney. However, in South West Sydney, beside commercial and domestic sources, on-road vehicles were predicted to be the most significant contributor to maximum ozone levels, followed by biogenic sources and power stations. The results provide information that policy makers can use to devise various options to control ozone levels in different parts of the NSW Greater Metropolitan Region.

Highlights

Ozone is one of the criterion pollutants monitored at many monitoring stations in the Sydney metropolitan area over the past few decades
We present here the principal component analysis (PCA) results with component scores, which show that there are 3 principle the corresponding principal component scores for each site were derived
As it is not possible or practical to control biogenic emission sources, the implication of this study is that to control the level of ozone in the Greater Metropolitan Region (GMR), commercial and domestic sources should be the focus for policy makers to manage the ozone level in the GMR

Summary

Introduction

Ozone is one of the criterion pollutants monitored at many monitoring stations in the Sydney metropolitan area over the past few decades (from 1970 until now). It is a secondary pollutant produced from complex photochemical reaction of nitrogen oxides (NOx ) and mainly volatile organic compounds (VOC) under sunlight. From early 2000–2010, ozone concentration as measured at many monitoring stations tended to decrease. This is mainly due to a cleaner fleet of motor vehicles compared to that in the past, despite an increase in the total number of vehicles

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