PNNL

Abstract

A meteorological-chemical model with a 12-km horizontal grid spacing was used to simulate the evolution of ozone over the western Great Lakes region during a 30-day period in the summer of 1999. High ozone production rates were produced over the surface of the lakes as a result of stable atmospheric conditions that trapped ozone precursors within a shallow layer during the day. Simulations with lake temperatures derived from either satellite measurements or climatological values produced ozone mixing ratios over the lakes and around the lake shores that differed by as much as 50 ppb while differences over land were usually 10 ppb or less. Through another series of sensitivity studies that varied ozone precursor emissions, it was shown that a reduction of 50% NOx or VOC would lower the 60 ppb ozone exposure by up to 50 h per month in the remote forest regions over the northern Great Lakes. The implications of these results on future climate change and air quality in the region is discussed.