Photochemical environment over Southeast Asia primed for hazardous ozone levels with influx of nitrogen oxides from seasonal biomass burning
<p>Mainland and maritime Southeast Asia is home to more than 655 million people, representing nearly 10 % of the global population. The dry season in this region is typically associated with intense biomass burning activity, which leads to a significant increase in surface air pollutants that...
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| Format: | Article |
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Copernicus Publications
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/21/1917/2021/acp-21-1917-2021.pdf |
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| author | M. R. Marvin P. I. Palmer P. I. Palmer B. G. Latter B. G. Latter R. Siddans R. Siddans B. J. Kerridge B. J. Kerridge M. T. Latif M. F. Khan |
| author_facet | M. R. Marvin P. I. Palmer P. I. Palmer B. G. Latter B. G. Latter R. Siddans R. Siddans B. J. Kerridge B. J. Kerridge M. T. Latif M. F. Khan |
| author_sort | M. R. Marvin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Mainland and maritime Southeast Asia is home to more than 655 million
people, representing nearly 10 % of the global population. The dry
season in this region is typically associated with intense biomass
burning activity, which leads to a significant increase in surface air
pollutants that are harmful to human health, including ozone
(O<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span>). Latitude-based differences in the dry season and land use
distinguish two regional biomass burning regimes: (1) burning on the
peninsular mainland peaking in March and (2) burning across Indonesia
peaking in September. The type and amount of material burned in each
regime impact the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub><i>x</i></sub></span> <span class="inline-formula">=</span> NO <span class="inline-formula">+</span> NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>) and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which combine to
produce ozone. Here, we use the nested GEOS-Chem atmospheric chemistry
transport model (horizontal resolution of 0.25<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span> <span class="inline-formula">×</span> 0.3125<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span>),
in combination with satellite observations
from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and ground-based
observations from Malaysia, to investigate ozone photochemistry
over Southeast Asia in 2014. Seasonal cycles
of tropospheric ozone columns from OMI and GEOS-Chem
peak with biomass burning emissions.
Compared to OMI, the model has a mean annual bias of <span class="inline-formula">−11</span> %
but tends to overestimate tropospheric ozone near areas of seasonal fire activity.
We find that outside these burning areas,
the underlying photochemical environment is generally
NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub><i>x</i></sub></span>-limited and dominated by anthropogenic NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub><i>x</i></sub></span> and
biogenic non-methane VOC emissions. Pyrogenic emissions of NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub><i>x</i></sub></span> play a key
role in photochemistry, shifting towards more VOC-limited ozone production
and contributing about 30 % of the regional
ozone formation potential during both biomass burning seasons. Using the
GEOS-Chem model, we find that biomass burning activity coincides with
widespread ozone exposure at levels that exceed world public health
guidelines, resulting in about 260 premature deaths across
Southeast Asia in March 2014 and another 160 deaths
in September. Despite a positive model bias,
hazardous ozone levels are confirmed by surface observations during
both burning seasons.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T21:03:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1a05426b0e574cea9c2e5ecb913de1fb |
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| issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T21:03:24Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-1a05426b0e574cea9c2e5ecb913de1fb2022-12-21T23:31:32ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242021-02-01211917193510.5194/acp-21-1917-2021Photochemical environment over Southeast Asia primed for hazardous ozone levels with influx of nitrogen oxides from seasonal biomass burningM. R. Marvin0P. I. Palmer1P. I. Palmer2B. G. Latter3B. G. Latter4R. Siddans5R. Siddans6B. J. Kerridge7B. J. Kerridge8M. T. Latif9M. F. Khan10National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKNational Centre for Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKSchool of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKRemote Sensing Group, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UKNational Centre for Earth Observation, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UKRemote Sensing Group, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UKNational Centre for Earth Observation, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UKRemote Sensing Group, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UKNational Centre for Earth Observation, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UKDepartment of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, MalaysiaDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia<p>Mainland and maritime Southeast Asia is home to more than 655 million people, representing nearly 10 % of the global population. The dry season in this region is typically associated with intense biomass burning activity, which leads to a significant increase in surface air pollutants that are harmful to human health, including ozone (O<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span>). Latitude-based differences in the dry season and land use distinguish two regional biomass burning regimes: (1) burning on the peninsular mainland peaking in March and (2) burning across Indonesia peaking in September. The type and amount of material burned in each regime impact the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub><i>x</i></sub></span> <span class="inline-formula">=</span> NO <span class="inline-formula">+</span> NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which combine to produce ozone. Here, we use the nested GEOS-Chem atmospheric chemistry transport model (horizontal resolution of 0.25<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span> <span class="inline-formula">×</span> 0.3125<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span>), in combination with satellite observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and ground-based observations from Malaysia, to investigate ozone photochemistry over Southeast Asia in 2014. Seasonal cycles of tropospheric ozone columns from OMI and GEOS-Chem peak with biomass burning emissions. Compared to OMI, the model has a mean annual bias of <span class="inline-formula">−11</span> % but tends to overestimate tropospheric ozone near areas of seasonal fire activity. We find that outside these burning areas, the underlying photochemical environment is generally NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub><i>x</i></sub></span>-limited and dominated by anthropogenic NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub><i>x</i></sub></span> and biogenic non-methane VOC emissions. Pyrogenic emissions of NO<span class="inline-formula"><sub><i>x</i></sub></span> play a key role in photochemistry, shifting towards more VOC-limited ozone production and contributing about 30 % of the regional ozone formation potential during both biomass burning seasons. Using the GEOS-Chem model, we find that biomass burning activity coincides with widespread ozone exposure at levels that exceed world public health guidelines, resulting in about 260 premature deaths across Southeast Asia in March 2014 and another 160 deaths in September. Despite a positive model bias, hazardous ozone levels are confirmed by surface observations during both burning seasons.</p>https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/21/1917/2021/acp-21-1917-2021.pdf |
| spellingShingle | M. R. Marvin P. I. Palmer P. I. Palmer B. G. Latter B. G. Latter R. Siddans R. Siddans B. J. Kerridge B. J. Kerridge M. T. Latif M. F. Khan Photochemical environment over Southeast Asia primed for hazardous ozone levels with influx of nitrogen oxides from seasonal biomass burning Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| title | Photochemical environment over Southeast Asia primed for hazardous ozone levels with influx of nitrogen oxides from seasonal biomass burning |
| title_full | Photochemical environment over Southeast Asia primed for hazardous ozone levels with influx of nitrogen oxides from seasonal biomass burning |
| title_fullStr | Photochemical environment over Southeast Asia primed for hazardous ozone levels with influx of nitrogen oxides from seasonal biomass burning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Photochemical environment over Southeast Asia primed for hazardous ozone levels with influx of nitrogen oxides from seasonal biomass burning |
| title_short | Photochemical environment over Southeast Asia primed for hazardous ozone levels with influx of nitrogen oxides from seasonal biomass burning |
| title_sort | photochemical environment over southeast asia primed for hazardous ozone levels with influx of nitrogen oxides from seasonal biomass burning |
| url | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/21/1917/2021/acp-21-1917-2021.pdf |
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