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Abstract

Ozone (O3) pollution has become an increasing concern in China since elevated surface O3 concentrations were observed in recent years. In this study, five provincial cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi’an, and Hefei) located in different regions of China were selected to study the spatiotemporal variations and affecting factors of O3 concentrations during 2014–2015. Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou had suffered more severe O3 pollution, yet Beijing had the highest number of days that exceeded the Chinese MDA8 (maximum daily 8 h average) standard of 160 µg m−3. MDA8 O3 exhibited different seasonal patterns among the five cities. In Beijing and Xi’an, MDA8 O3 showed the highest in summer and lowest in winter. Guangzhou also had the highest O3 concentration in summer, but had similar levels in other three seasons. The O3 levels were similarly high in Shanghai during spring, summer, and autumn, while in Hefei, O3 concentration peaked in autumn. No significant difference between weekend and weekday O3 levels was observed in all the five cities. The diurnal cycle reached a maximum in the afternoon and a minimum in the early morning, which was consistent in the five cities. Correlation analyses showed that the associations between O3 and the other five criteria air pollutants, as well as meteorological parameters, were substantially different among the five cities. Air mass cluster analyses during episodic days revealed that the short-distance transport of O3 and its precursors had a greater impact for high O3 pollution in the five cities. Overall, our results demonstrate that O3 pollution exhibited great divergence among different regions and thus region-oriented control measures are suggested to reduce O3 pollution in China.