Aircraft observations since the 1990s reveal increases of tropospheric ozone at multiple locations across the Northern Hemisphere

Citations Over TimeTop 1% of 2020 papers

Abstract

Tropospheric ozone is an important greenhouse gas, is detrimental to human health and crop and ecosystem productivity, and controls the oxidizing capacity of the troposphere. Because of its high spatial and temporal variability and limited observations, quantifying net tropospheric ozone changes across the Northern Hemisphere on time scales of two decades had not been possible. Here, we show, using newly available observations from an extensive commercial aircraft monitoring network, that tropospheric ozone has increased above 11 regions of the Northern Hemisphere since the mid-1990s, consistent with the OMI/MLS satellite product. The net result of shifting anthropogenic ozone precursor emissions has led to an increase of ozone and its radiative forcing above all 11 study regions of the Northern Hemisphere, despite NO _x emission reductions at midlatitudes.

Related Papers

• → Tropospheric ozone evolution between 1890 and 1990(2005)156 cited
• → Sensitivity of Tropospheric Ozone Over the Southeast USA to Dry Deposition(2020)30 cited
• → Ozone laminae: Comparison of the Southern and Northern Hemisphere, and tentative explanation of trends(2006)7 cited
• → Preliminary UV, ozone and cloud comparison between Southern and Northern Hemisphere, sub-tropical latitude sites during 1996/1997(2001)6 cited
• → Sun-Spot Activity during 1934(1935)