A series of deep stratospheric intrusions in late May 2013 increased the daily maximum 8 h surface ozone (O-3) concentrations to more than 70 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) at rural and urban surface monitors in California and Nevada. This influx of ozone-rich lower stratospheric air and entrained Asian pollution persisted for more than 5 days and contributed to exceedances of the 2008 8 h national ambient air quality standard of 75 ppbv on 21 and 25 May in Clark County, NV. Exceedances would also have occurred on 22 and 23 May had the new standard of 70 ppbv been in effect. In this paper, we examine this episode using lidar measurements from a high-elevation site on Angel Peak, NV, and surface measurements from NOAA, the Clark County, Nevada Department of Air Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency Air Quality System, and the Nevada Rural Ozone Initiative. These measurements, together with analyses from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/North American Regional Reanalysis; NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory AM3 model; NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Real-time Air Quality Modeling System; and FLEXPART models, show that the exceedances followed entrainment of similar to 20 to 40 ppbv of lower stratospheric ozone mingled with another 0 to 10 ppbv of ozone transported from Asia by the unusually deep convective boundary layers above the Mojave desert. Our analysis suggests that this vigorous mixing can affect both high and low elevations and help explain the springtime ozone maximum in the southwestern U.S.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016jd025987

Journal Article

NOAA Cooperative Institutes
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service (NESDIS)