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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-5563</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Hourly-Resolved temperature inflection points of ozone formation: Chemical pathways and precursor sensitivity in Zhengzhou, China</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Mingkai</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0110-7784</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Shenbo</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4816-9476</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Shang</surname>
<given-names>Luqi</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Tao</surname>
<given-names>Jie</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Xu</surname>
<given-names>Yifei</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zhang</surname>
<given-names>Ruiqin</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Xu</surname>
<given-names>Zhen Tao</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Wen Sheng</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Xinyu</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Yu</surname>
<given-names>Yan</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>School of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Research Institute of Environmental Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>School of Ecology and Environment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Zhengzhou Ecological Environment Monitoring Center of Henan Province,  Zhengzhou 450000, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>12</day>
<month>10</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>31</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Mingkai Wang et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5563/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5563/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5563/egusphere-2026-5563.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5563/egusphere-2026-5563.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Ground-level ozone (O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;) is a key secondary pollutant. Its formation is nonlinearly modulated by temperature, an effect amplified under climate warming. However, the chemical mechanisms by which temperature influences the diurnal O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; cycle and its synergistic interactions with other parameters remain inadequately understood. By integrating observational data from a typical inland city in China with model simulations and machine learning, this study identifies the temperature inflection point for O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; formation and elucidates the underlying chemical mechanisms and dominant controlling factors. The net O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; production rate (P&lt;sub&gt;net&lt;/sub&gt;(O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;)) peaks at 31 &amp;deg;C. The rapid formation between 25 and 31 &amp;deg;C is driven by the HO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;+NO and RO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;+NO pathways, with enhanced nitrogen dioxide photolysis rate (J(NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;)) and elevated isoprene as the main drivers. From 31 to 36 &amp;deg;C, P&lt;sub&gt;net&lt;/sub&gt;(O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;) declines because the HO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;+NO pathway is weakened and decreasing photolysis rates become the dominant limiting factor. Above 36 &amp;deg;C, nitrous acid (HONO) and formaldehyde (HCHO) concentrations decrease, weakening radical cycling and further suppressing O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; formation. Sensitivity and two-factor analyses support a temperature-dependent dynamic control strategy: in the low-temperature range (22&amp;ndash;31 &amp;deg;C), priority should be given to controlling anthropogenic alkenes with nitrogen oxides (NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt;) reductions to avoid diminishing returns from single-species cuts; in the high-temperature range (32&amp;ndash;40 &amp;deg;C), NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt; reductions should be intensified, and synergistic precursors such as HONO and oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) should be reduced with emphasis, enhancing the O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; reduction benefit per unit emission and mitigating O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; pollution risks under a warming climate.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="31"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Ministry of Science and Technology of the People&apos;s Republic of China</funding-source>
<award-id>No. 2024YFC3713700</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>National Natural Science Foundation of China</funding-source>
<award-id>No. 42505100</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs3">
<funding-source>Education Department of Henan Province</funding-source>
<award-id>No. 26A610019</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
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