Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2393
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2393
02 Nov 2023
 | 02 Nov 2023

Weakened aerosol-radiation interaction exacerbating ozone pollution in eastern China since China’s clean air actions

Hao Yang, Lei Chen, Hong Liao, Jia Zhu, Wenjie Wang, and Xin Li

Abstract. Since China’s clean air action, PM2.5 air quality has been improved while ozone (O3) pollution has been becoming severe. Here we apply a coupled meteorology-chemistry model (WRF-Chem) to quantify the responses of aerosol-radiation interaction (ARI), including aerosol-photolysis interaction (API) and aerosol-radiation feedback (ARF), to anthropogenic emission reductions from 2013 to 2017, and their contributions to O3 increases over eastern China in summer and winter. Sensitivity experiments show that the decreased anthropogenic emissions play a more prominent role for the increased MDA8 O3 both in summer (+1.96 ppb vs. +0.07 ppb) and winter (+3.56 ppb vs. -1.08 ppb) than the impacts of changed meteorological conditions. The decreased PM2.5 caused by emission reduction can result in a weaker impact of ARI on O3 concentrations, which poses a superimposed effect on the worsened O3 air quality. The weakened ARI due to decreased anthropogenic emission aggravates the summer (winter) O3 pollution by +0.81 ppb (+0.63 ppb) averaged over eastern China, with weakened API and ARF contributing 55.6 % (61.9 %) and 44.4 % (38.1 %), respectively; this superimposed effect is more significant for urban areas during summer (+1.77 ppb). Process analysis indicates that the enhanced chemical production is the dominant process for the increased O3 concentrations caused by weakened ARI both in summer and winter. This study innovatively reveals the adverse effect of weakened aerosol-radiation interaction due to decreased anthropogenic emissions on O3 air quality; more stringent coordinated air pollution control strategies are needed for future air quality improvement.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

03 Apr 2024
Weakened aerosol–radiation interaction exacerbating ozone pollution in eastern China since China's clean air actions
Hao Yang, Lei Chen, Hong Liao, Jia Zhu, Wenjie Wang, and Xin Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4001–4015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4001-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4001-2024, 2024
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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

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The present study quantifies the response of aerosol-radiation interaction (ARI) to...
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