Assessment of tropospheric ozone at an industrial site of Chennai megacity

This paper presents the temporal variation in surface-level ozone (O₃) measured at Gummidipoondi near Chennai, Tamilnadu. The site chosen for the present study has high potential for ozone generation sources, such as vehicular traffic and industrial activities. The site is also located near a hazardous waste management facility. The key sources of nitrogen oxides (NO_x), which are considered to be an important precursor of O₃, include hazardous waste incineration, trucks bringing the hazardous wastes, and vehicles plying on the nearby National Highway 16 (NH 16). The measurements clearly showed diurnal variation, with maximum values observed during the noon hours and minimum values observed when solar radiation was less. The data showed a marked seasonal variation in O₃, with the highest hourly average O₃ concentration (497.2 µg/m³) in the summer season. Consequently, in order to identify the long-range transport sources adding to the increased O₃ levels, backward trajectories were computed using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. It was found that the polluted air mass originated from the Southeast Asian region and the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The polluted air mass, which advected large amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) plumes, was analyzed using the Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) retrievals. The correlations of O₃ with temperature (r = 0.746; P < 0.01) and solar radiation (r = 0.751; P < 0.01) were strongly positive, and that with NO_x was found to be negative. Stronger correlation of O₃ with NO_x was observed during pre-monsoon months (r = 0.627; P < 0.01) and following hours of photochemical reactions. There were substantial differences in concentrations between weekdays and weekends, with higher nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), but lower O₃, concentrations on weekdays. A substantial weekday-weekend difference in O₃, which was higher on weekends, appears to be attributable to lower daytime traffic activity and hence reduced emissions of NO_x to a “NO_x-saturated” atmosphere.

Implications: The assessment of ground-level ozone in an industrial area with hazardous waste management facility is very important, as there is high possibility for more generation of tropospheric ozone. Since the location of the study area is coastal, wind plays a major role in O₃ transportation; hence, the effects of wind speed and wind direction have been studied in different seasons. When compared with the other studies carried out in different places across India, the present study area has recorded much greater O₃ mixing ratio. This study can be useful for setting up control strategies in such industrial areas.