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Chemical nonlinearities in relating intercontinental ozone pollution to anthropogenic emissions
Author(s) -
Wu Shiliang,
Duncan Bryan N.,
Jacob Daniel J.,
Fiore Arlene M.,
Wild Oliver
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2008gl036607
Subject(s) - ozone , chemical transport model , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , pollution , perturbation (astronomy) , air pollution , meteorology , chemistry , physics , ecology , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , biology
Model studies typically estimate intercontinental influence on surface ozone by perturbing emissions from a source continent and diagnosing the ozone response in the receptor continent. Since the response to perturbations is non‐linear due to chemistry, conclusions drawn from different studies may depend on the magnitude of the applied perturbation. We investigate this issue for intercontinental transport between North America, Europe, and Asia with sensitivity simulations in three global chemical transport models. In each region, we decrease anthropogenic emissions of NO x and nonmethane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) by 20% and 100%. We find strong nonlinearity in the response to NO x perturbations outside summer, reflecting transitions in the chemical regime for ozone production. In contrast, we find no significant nonlinearity to NO x perturbations in summer or to NMVOC perturbations year‐round. The relative benefit of decreasing NO x vs. NMVOC from current levels to abate intercontinental pollution increases with the magnitude of emission reductions.