Novel deseasonalizing models for improving the prediction of total ozone in column using evolutionary programming and neural networks

In this paper we present a novel method for deseasonalizing TOC data using non-linear models, with evolutionary computation techniques, and its performance with a neural network as regression approach. Specifically, the proposed deseasonalization method uses an evolutionary programming (EP) approach to carry out a curve fitting problem, where a given function model is optimized to be as similar as possible to an objective curve (a real TOC measurement in this case). Different non-linear models are proposed to be optimized with the EP algorithm. In addition, we test the possibility of deseasonalizing the TOC measurement and also the meteorological input data. The deseasonalized series is then used to train a neural network (multi-layer perceptron). We test the proposed models in the prediction of several TOC series in the Iberian Peninsula, where we carry out a comparison against a reference deseasonalizing model previously proposed in the literature. The results obtained show the good performance of some of the deseasonalizing models proposed in this paper.     

Spatial Patterns of Seasonal Level Diurnal Variations of Ozone and Respirable Suspended Particulates in Hong Kong

In this study we analyzed the diurnal spatial patterns of cycles of ozone (O₃) and respirable suspended particulate (RSP) matter in Hong Kong between 2001 and 2011. We used harmonic analysis to reveal the diurnal cycle in the seasonal-level spatial patterns. The diurnal cycle of O₃ is stronger in the northeast rural areas of Hong Kong than in the urban center due to the lower titration effects of nitric oxide in the rural areas. For RSP, the southern sections show the strongest diurnal cycle and the northeastern sections show the weakest diurnal cycle, which could be explained by the heavy vehicular traffic in the southern urban areas and light vehicular traffic in the northeast rural areas. The diurnal patterns of O₃ and RSP both show stronger cycles in the summer months, which might be related to the diurnal rainfall pattern. The time of maximum for O₃ is around 1400 Local Standard Time (LST) in the afternoon in summer, whereas a wider range in the time of maximum, between 1100 and 1400 LST, was observed in winter. The spatial pattern of the time of maximum for RSP showed a gradual progression from the center of the city to the west, between 1300 and 1700 LST, which is consistent with rush hour traffic.     

Air Quality,Climate, and Policy: A Case Study of Ozone Pollution in Tucson,Arizona

This article addresses the need to better understand the complex interactions between climate, human activities, vegetation responses, and surface ozone so that more informed air-quality policy recommendations can be made. The impacts of intraseasonal climate variations on ozone levels in Tucson, Arizona from April through September of 1995 to 1998 are determined by relating variations in ozone levels to variations in atmospheric conditions and emissions of ozone's precursor chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x), and by determining month-specific atmospheric conditions that are conducive to elevated ozone levels. Results show that the transport of ozone and its precursor chemicals within the Tucson area causes the highest ozone levels to be measured at a downwind monitor. The highest ozone levels occur in August, due in part to the presence of the North American monsoon. Atmospheric conditions conducive to elevated ozone concentrations differ substantially between the arid foresummer (May and June) and the core monsoon months ( July and August). Transport of pollution from Phoenix may have a substantial impact on elevated ozone concentrations during April, May, and June, while El Paso/Ciudad Juarez –derived pollution may contribute significantly to elevated ozone concentrations in August and September. Two broad policy implications derive from this work. Regional pollutant transport, both within the U.S. and between the U.S. and Mexico, is a potential issue that needs to be examined more intensively in future studies. In addition, spatiotemporal variations in sensitivities of ozone production require the adoption of both NO_x and VOC control measures to reduce ozone levels in the Tucson area.     

Identification and Apportionment of Sources of Ozone‐forming Potential for Proper Reduction Strategies

In this study, results of source identification and apportionment for ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a previous work were used to estimate ozone‐forming potentials (OFPs) of effective sources for developing proper strategies for reduction of tropospheric ozone pollution. The source identification and apportionment of ambient VOC pollution within Yildiz Technical University's Davutpasa Campus (Istanbul, Turkey) was done by positive matrix factorization (PMF). The results suggested five effective source groups with the emissions related with paint use and solvent use having the highest contributions (36.8 and 28.2%). The results from PMF were used along with maximum incremental reactivities to estimate potentials of individual sources for ozone formation. It was found that biogenic emissions (3.78) and traffic related emissions (gasoline and diesel vehicle exhaust) (3.83 and 3.15, respectively) have the highest potential for ozone formation in terms of grams O₃/g VOC emitted. The results were used to suggest proper source‐based reduction strategies for OFP.     

Observational Subseasonal Variability of the PM2.5 Concentration in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area during the January 2021 Sudden Stratospheric Warming

It is still not well understood if subseasonal variability of the local PM_2.5 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region is affected by the stratospheric state. Using PM_2.5 observations and the ERA5 reanalysis, the evolution of the air quality in BTH during the January 2021 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) is explored. The subseasonal variability of the PM_2.5 concentration after the SSW onset is evidently enhanced. Stratospheric circumpolar easterly anomalies lasted for 53 days during the January–February 2021 SSW with two evident stratospheric pulses arriving at the ground. During the tropospheric wave weakening period and the intermittent period of dormant stratospheric pulses, the East Asian winter monsoon weakened, anomalous temperature inversion developed in the lower troposphere, anomalous surface southerlies prevailed, atmospheric moisture increased, and the boundary layer top height lowered, all of which favor the accumulation of pollutant particulates, leading to two periods of pollution processes in the BTH region. In the phase of strengthened East Asian winter monsoon around the very beginning of the SSW and another two periods when stratospheric pulses had reached the near surface, opposite-signed circulation patterns and meteorological conditions were observed, which helped to dilute and diffuse air pollutants in the BTH region. As a result, the air quality was excellent during the two periods when the stratospheric pulse had reached the near surface. The increased subseasonal variation of the regional pollutant particulates after the SSW onset highlights the important role of the stratosphere in the regional environment and provides implications for the environmental prediction.     

Record Arctic Ozone Loss in Spring 2020 is Likely Caused by North Pacific Warm Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies

Record ozone loss was observed in the Arctic stratosphere in spring 2020. This study aims to determine what caused the extreme Arctic ozone loss. Observations and simulation results are examined in order to show that the extreme Arctic ozone loss was likely caused by record-high sea surface temperatures(SSTs) in the North Pacific. It is found that the record Arctic ozone loss was associated with the extremely cold and persistent stratospheric polar vortex over February–April, and the extremely cold vortex was a result of anomalously weak planetary wave activity. Further analysis reveals that the weak wave activity can be traced to anomalously warm SSTs in the North Pacific. Both observations and simulations show that warm SST anomalies in the North Pacific could have caused the weakening of wavenumber-1 wave activity, colder Arctic vortex, and lower Arctic ozone. These results suggest that for the present-day level of ozone-depleting substances, severe Arctic ozone loss could form again, as long as certain dynamic conditions are satisfied.     

The Role of Stationary and Transient Planetary Waves in the Maintenance of Stratospheric Polar Vortex Regimes in Northern Hemisphere Winter

Using 1958-2002 NCEPNCAR reanalysis data, we investigate stationary and transient planetary wave propagation and its role in wave-mean flow interaction which influences the state of the polar vortex (PV) in the stratosphere in Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter. This is done by analyzing the Eliassen-Palm (E-P) flux and its divergence. We find that the stationary and transient waves propagate upward and equatorward in NH winter, with stronger upward propagation of stationary waves from the troposphere to the stratosphere, and stronger equatorward propagation of transient waves from mid-latitudes to the subtropics in the troposphere. Stationary waves exhibit more upward propagation in the polar stratosphere during the weak polar vortex regime (WVR) than during the strong polar vortex regime (SVR). On the other hand, transient waves have more upward propagation during SVR than during WVR in the subpolar stratosphere, with a domain of low frequency waves. With different paths of upward propagation, both stationary and transient waves contribute to the maintenance of the observed stratospheric PV regimes in NH winter.     

平流层气溶胶与多种微量气体以及温度的关系

本文采用卤素掩星试验(Halogen Occultation Experiment,HALOE)资料探讨了火山活动相对平静期平流层气溶胶与O3、H2O、HC1、NOx、CH4、HF等微量气体以及温度的关系.滞后相关分析显示气溶胶与微量气体和温度有显著关系,不同成分的相关性特征有所差异,中低纬度上空70～20 hPa高度...     

近30a北极平流层臭氧的季节和年际变化特征

综合利用1978-2011年TOMS（Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer）和OMI（Ozone Monitoring Instrument）臭氧总量资料,MLS（Microwave Limb Sounder）臭氧廓线资料以及NCEP/NCAR再分析气象场资料,对比研究了近30a南北极臭氧总量的年际变化和季节变化差异,重点分析了2010/2011年冬末春初北极臭氧出现的异常损耗现象,探讨北极春季臭氧低值产生的原因。结果表明：与南极地区一年四季都保持一个臭氧低值中心明显不同,北极臭氧总量的减少则是伴随着整个春夏季（4-8月）,在秋季（10月）达到最低值,冬季（11月-次年2月）北极臭氧快速恢复,这主要是由于南北半球极地地区环流差异和温度差异造成的。南北两极年均O3总量呈下降趋势,两极地区O3总量年际变化最大的季节是春季。近30a,北极在1997和2011年春季（3-4月）分别达到极低值355DU和361DU,但近年来两极臭氧年际变化趋势不明显。2011年春季,北极地区出现的较严重臭氧低值现象从3月中旬至4月中旬持续了近1个月,2010/2011年冬春季平流层低温和臭氧低值对应关系很好。     

A neurocomputing approach to the forecasting of monthly maximum temperature over Kolkata, India using total ozone concentration as predictor

The association between the monthly total ozone concentration and monthly maximum temperature over Kolkata (22.56° N, 88.30° E), India, has been explored in this paper. For this, the predictability of monthly maximum temperature based on the total ozone as predictor is investigated using Artificial Neural Network. The presence of persistence and similar cyclic patterns are revealed through autocorrelation and cross-correlation coefficients. Common cycles of length 12 and 6 have been identified through periodogram. Hence, a predictive model has been generated by Artificial Neural Network in the form of Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP) using scaled conjugate gradient learning with sigmoid non-linearity. After training and testing the network, an MLP with total ozone of month n as predictor and maximum temperature of month (n + 1) as the target output is found as the best model. Performance of the model has been judged statistically. Finally, the MLP model has been compared with linear and non-linear regressions and the efficiency of MLP has been established over the regression models.