Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 6 5 2006 10.5194/acpd-6-8961-2006 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/8961/2006/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/8961/2006/acpd-6-8961-2006.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/8961/2006/acpd-6-8961-2006.pdf 8961 9002 2006-09-25 Ozone production and hydrocarbon reactivity in Hong Kong, Southern China J. Zhang T. Wang W. L. Chameides C. Cardelino J. Kwok D. R. Blake A. Ding K. L. So School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HongKong, China Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA Data obtained in Hong Kong during the Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Pilot Air Monitoring Study in autumn 2002 are analyzed to unravel the relationship between ground-level ozone (O₃), pollution precursors, and cross-border transport. Ten ozone episodes, during which the hourly O₃ concentration exceeded 100 ppbv in 9 cases and 90 ppbv in one case, are subject to detailed analysis, including one case with hourly O₃ of 203 ppbv, which is the highest concentration on record to date in Hong Kong. Combined with high-resolution back trajectories, dCO/dNO_<i>y</i> is used to define whether O₃ is locally or regionally produced. Five out of the ten Hong Kong O₃-episodes studied show a ''pollution signature'' that is indicative of impact from Guangdong Province. Examination of speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) shows that the reactivity of VOCs is dominated by anthropogenic VOCs, of which the reactive aromatics dominate, in particular xylenes and toluene. Calculations using a photochemical box model indicate that between 50&ndash;100% of the O₃ increase observed in Hong Kong during the O₃ episodes can be explained by photochemical generation within the Hong Kong area, provided that nitrous acid (HONO) is present at the concentrations derived from this study. An Observation-Based Model (OBM) is used to calculate the sensitivity of the O₃ production to changes in the concentrations of the precursor compounds. Generally the production of O₃ throughout much of the Hong Kong area is limited by VOCs, while high nitric oxide (NO) concentrations suppress O₃ concentration.