Seasonal relationship between meteorological conditions and surface ozone in Korea based on an offline chemistry-climate model

Özet

Tropospheric ozone plays an important role in climate variation and air quality, and it has seen a dramaticrise in East Asia due to the region's rapid economic growth. The relationship between meteorologicalconditions and surface ozone in Korea varies seasonally, and to obtain a better understanding ofthis process, this study performed offline simulations using a climateechemistry model. The modelrepresented the observed annual cycle of surface ozone over East Asia well, including the spring/autumnpeaks and summer troughs. Increases in ozone were associated primarily with the westerly windanomaly during spring and with surface warming during the autumn and summer. Moreover, a decreasein ozone during the summer likely resulted from the transportation of ozone-depleted air masses byanomalous southeasterly winds. Reduced cloud cover increased ozone levels significantly during allseasons except winter. The relationship between the El Nino and Southern Oscillation and ozone con- ~centrations in Korea was also examined. Spring ozone levels tended to be elevated following maturephaseEl Nino winters, whereas elevated levels during summer and autumn followed La Ni ~ na winters