High Ozone Concentrations Observed along the Persian Gulf Coast by Ozone Monitoring Instrument

Abstract To reveal air pollution conditions in the rapidly urbanizing and industrializing Persian Gulf coastal region, seven years of ozone profile data from the newly improved Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) V2 product were analyzed; a significant summer (June–September) increase in lowermost tropospheric (0–3 km altitude) ozone indicated the presence of hotspots in this region. The ozone enhancement correlates with the distribution of emission hotspots for ozone precursors observed by OMI, suggesting the validity of OMI ozone observations in the lowermost layer. OMI ozone observation data were compared with In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS) measurements, confirming correspondence with OMI during several ozone high-concentration events. Same-day IAGOS-OMI comparisons showed a positive correlation with a slope of nearly unity, confirming OMI data reliability. This study demonstrates that lower-level ozone observations using the ultraviolet-visible spectrum is highly effective for understanding air pollution issues in rapidly growing urban areas such as the Persian Gulf region.