Published in

MDPI, Atmosphere, 4(15), p. 401, 2024

DOI: 10.3390/atmos15040401

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Influence of Transboundary Pollution on the Variability of Surface Ozone Concentrations in the Desert Southwest of the U.S.: Case Study for Arizona

Journal article published in 2024 by Grace Betito ORCID, Avelino Arellano, Armin Sorooshian ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Arizona, a rapidly growing state in the southwestern U.S., faces ozone pollution challenges, including nonattainment areas in Yuma and Maricopa counties influenced by neighboring state pollution transport. In this study, we use five-year (2017–2021) hourly back-trajectories and O3 concentration data for concentration-weighted trajectory (CWT) analysis to identify transport pathways and potential source regions of O3 at six monitoring sites in Arizona. We divide the data into five seasons (winter, spring, dry summer, monsoon summer, and fall) to examine variations in O3 concentration and transport across sites and seasons. The highest mean O3 concentrations occur during spring (37–49 ppb), dry summer (39–51 ppb), and monsoon summer (34–49 ppb), while winter (19–41 ppb) exhibits the lowest seasonal mean. The CWT results reveal that high O3 concentrations (≥40 ppb) in Arizona, with the exception of Phoenix and Tucson sites, are influenced significantly by regional and international transport, especially in spring (14.9–35.4%) and dry summer (12.7–26.9%). The major potential source areas (excluding the Phoenix and Tucson sites) are predominantly located outside Arizona. This study highlights the critical role of pollution transport in influencing O3 variability within Arizona and will be valuable in shaping pollution control strategies in the future.