ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Surface Ozone in the Huaihe River Economic
Belt, China: Spatial-Temporal Variations
and Meteorological Driving Force
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1
School of Geographic Sciences, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, China
2
Henan Key Laboratory for Synergistic Prevention of Water and Soil Environmental Pollution,
Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, China
3
Henan Key Technology Engineering Research Center of Microwave Remote Sensing and Resource Environment
Monitoring, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, China
Submission date: 2023-10-26
Final revision date: 2023-12-03
Acceptance date: 2023-12-11
Online publication date: 2024-06-10
Publication date: 2024-06-27
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(5):5199-5209
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Due to intense population density and rapid economic development, ozone (O3) pollution
is serious in the Huaihe River Economic Belt (HREB) of China. Based on pollutant and meteorological
observation data from 2015 to 2020, many interdisciplinary methods, e.g., Kernel Density Estimation
(KDE), Standard Deviation Ellipse (SDE), and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), were employed
to investigate the spatio-temporal distribution and the meteorological driving force of O3 in 27 cities
in the HREB. The results revealed that the annual mass concentration of O3 increased in 2015~2018
and then decreased in 2019. The seasonal O3 concentration displayed a bimodal structure, with
highs in spring (122.3 μg/m3) and summer (134.7 μg/m3), and low in autumn (99.1 μg/m3) and winter
(64.4 μg/m3). Spatially, the O3 concentration in the northeastern HREB was higher than in
the southwestern HREB. SDE analysis indicated that southeast Shangqiu (33.80°N-33.89°N,
116.33°E-116.40°E) was the center of gravity for O3 concentrations in the HREB. The cities with
severe O3 pollution were clustered in the northern HREB, forming the high-high (HH) type, and
those in the southern HREB with low O3 concentrations forming the low-low (LL) type. Meteorological
factors, including temperature, pressure, and sunshine duration, had a relatively significant impact on
O3 concentration. Based on the results of t h e MLR analysis, meteorological factors can explain
82.2%~18.2% (60.5% on average) of the O3 variation in the HREB. The O3 in the northern HREB was
more affected by meteorological conditions than in the southern HREB.