Ozone Formation in a Representative Urban Environment: Model Discrepancies and Critical Roles of Oxygenated Volatile Organic Compounds

Ozone (O3) significantly impacts air quality. Despite reductions in PM2.5 since the 2013 Clean Air Act, the level of the O3 concentration has continued to rise in China, underscoring the need for targeted pollution control measures. This study examined the seasonal and spatial variations of pollutants and meteorological variables in a major industrial city in Eastern China. Three widely used approaches, including the ozone formation potential (OFP) calculation, an observation-based model (OBM), and a random forest algorithm, were employed to investigate O3 formation in urban environments. Results show that oxygenated volatile organic compounds were the most significant contributors to summer urban O3, whereas their impact was significantly reduced during the winter. Each O3 formation evaluation model provided unique insights, with OFP offering rapid estimates, the OBM revealing detailed chemistry, and random forest capturing nonlinear interactions. However, the study also identified limitations in these models. OFP failed to account for seasonal variations in the level of O3 formation, and the random forest model struggled to distinguish causal relationships from correlations. These findings highlight the need for caution when relying on a single model and underscore the importance of integrating multiple methods to gain an accurate understanding of urban O3 formation dynamics, which is crucial to developing effective control strategies.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Environmental Science & Technology Letters
Published
2025-02-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.4c01026
Citations
10
Primary Topic
Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
13.01

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Ozone Formation in a Representative Urban Environment: Model Discrepancies and Critical Roles of Oxygenated Volatile Organic Compounds

Hongliang Zhang, Chao‐Yang Pan, Yi Zheng, Tzung‐May Fu et al.
10 citations
Environmental Science & Technology Letters
Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
13.01
article

Ozone Formation in a Representative Urban Environment: Model Discrepancies and Critical Roles of Oxygenated Volatile Organic Compounds

Hongliang Zhang, Chao‐Yang Pan, Yi Zheng, Tzung‐May Fu, Haiwei Li, Yanchen Li, Yiming Qin, Yue’e Li, Ning Zhang, Changping Li, Xinlei Ge, Jianhuai Ye, Wei Zheng, Yali Lei, Xiangpeng Huang, Xin Yang, Yunjiang Zhang
article en
10 citations

Abstract

Ozone (O3) significantly impacts air quality. Despite reductions in PM2.5 since the 2013 Clean Air Act, the level of the O3 concentration has continued to rise in China, underscoring the need for targeted pollution control measures. This study examined the seasonal and spatial variations of pollutants and meteorological variables in a major industrial city in Eastern China. Three widely used approaches, including the ozone formation potential (OFP) calculation, an observation-based model (OBM), and a random forest algorithm, were employed to investigate O3 formation in urban environments. Results show that oxygenated volatile organic compounds were the most significant contributors to summer urban O3, whereas their impact was significantly reduced during the winter. Each O3 formation evaluation model provided unique insights, with OFP offering rapid estimates, the OBM revealing detailed chemistry, and random forest capturing nonlinear interactions. However, the study also identified limitations in these models. OFP failed to account for seasonal variations in the level of O3 formation, and the random forest model struggled to distinguish causal relationships from correlations. These findings highlight the need for caution when relying on a single model and underscore the importance of integrating multiple methods to gain an accurate understanding of urban O3 formation dynamics, which is crucial to developing effective control strategies.

Environmental Science & Technology LettersVol. 12(3)
Anhui Jianzhu University (CN), City University of Hong Kong (HK), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (CN), Fudan University (CN), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse (CN), Environmental Protection Engineering (Greece) (GR), Zhejiang Environmental Monitoring Center (CN), Jiangsu University of Technology (CN), Early Warning (United States) (US), Impact (CA)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, Southern University of Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control
Sustainable cities and communities
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
13.01
DOISourceOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.