Tropospheric ozone significantly damages vegetation and reduces net primary productivity (NPP). We developed a stable linear NPP response model based on accumulated ozone exposure over a threshold of ...40 parts per billion (ppb) (AOT40). We then estimated the effects of regional ozone damage on NPP for different vegetation types. The study suggests an average decrease in NPP of 24.7% due to ozone pollution in the North China Plain, similar to previous estimates ranging from 10.1% to 24.7%, with a maximum reduction exceeding 200 g C m‐2 yr‐1 and more than 50%. Vegetation types such as broadleaf forests, needleleaf forest, crops, and grasses showed significant NPP decreases of 47.1%, 37.8%, 36.7%, and 44.6%, respectively. Declining NPP also had negative impacts on several Chinese crop species. Our work highlights the need for urgent and effective action to mitigate ozone pollution's substantial detrimental effects on ecosystem health and productivity.
Plain Language Summary
Ozone pollution led to an average 25% decrease in net primary productivity in the North China Plain. This decline is consistent with previous estimates that ranged from 10% to 25%. Productivity of forest trees, crops, and grasses declined significantly, ranging from 36.7% to 47.1%. These results have implications for Chinese crops, as lower crop productivity can negatively affect crop yields. Our study highlights the urgent need for action to mitigate the detrimental effects of ozone pollution on ecosystem health and productivity.
Key Points
We developed a stable model to estimate ozone impact on the productivity of plants'
Ozone pollution resulted in an average decline in productivity of 25% per year in all ecosystem types in the North China Plain region
Ozone pollution led to net primary productivity declines in forest, crops, and grasses, with reductions ranging from 36.7% to 47.1%
The Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 3 (MOZART‐3), which represents the chemical and physical processes from the troposphere through the lower mesosphere, was used to evaluate ...the representation of long‐lived tracers and ozone using three different meteorological fields. The meteorological fields are based on (1) the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model, version 1b (WACCM1b), (2) the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) operational analysis, and (3) a new reanalysis for year 2000 from ECMWF called EXP471. Model‐derived tracers (methane, water vapor, and total inorganic nitrogen) and ozone are compared to data climatologies from satellites. Model mean age of air was also derived and compared to in situ CO2 and SF6 data. A detailed analysis of the chemical fields simulated by MOZART‐3 shows that even though the general features characterizing the three dynamical sets are rather similar, slight differences in winds and temperature can produce substantial differences in the calculated distributions of chemical tracers. The MOZART‐3 simulations that use meteorological fields from WACCM1b and ECMWF EXP471 represented best the distribution of long‐lived tracers and mean age of air in the stratosphere. There was a significant improvement using the ECMWF EXP471 reanalysis data product over the ECMWF operational data product. The effect of the quasi‐biennial oscillation circulation on long‐lived tracers and ozone is examined.
Elemental carbon (EC) and polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) are potential proxies for the reconstruction of change in human activities and the origin of air masses in historic times. In this ...study, the historic deposition of char and soot (the two subtypes of EC) and PACs in a 150-year sediment core from different topographic subbasins of Lake Qinghai on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau (QTP) were reconstructed. The objective was to explore how the variations in the concentrations of EC and PACs, in the ratios of char to soot and of oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OPAHs) to parent PAHs, and in the composition of the PAC mixtures reflect historical changes in climate and human activity and the origin of air masses arriving at the QTP. The deposition fluxes of soot in the different subbasins were similar, averaging 0.18 (range of 0.15-0.25) and 0.16 (0.13-0.23) g m(-2) year(-1), respectively, but they varied for char (averaging 0.11 and 0.22 g m(-2) year(-1), respectively), suggesting ubiquitous atmospheric deposition of soot and local river inputs of char. The different vertical distributions of the char/soot ratios in the different subbasins can be interpreted in terms of the different transport mechanisms of char and soot. An abrupt increase in soot concentrations since 1980 coincides with results from the QTP ice cores that were interpreted to be indicative of soot transport from South Asia. Similar concentration patterns of PAHs with soot and 9,10-anthraquinone/anthracene (9,10-AQ/ANT) ratios all >2.0 suggest regional PAC sources. Increasing PAH/soot ratios and decreasing 9,10-AQ/ANT ratios since the beginning of the 1970s indicate increasing local emissions. The historical trends of these diagnostic ratios indicate an increase in the fossil-fuel contribution since the beginning of the 1970s. The increase of perylene concentrations with increasing core depth and the ratio of perylene to its penta-aromatic isomers indicate that perylene originates mainly from in situ biogenic diagenesis. We demonstrate that the concentrations of EC, char, soot, and PACs in sediments can be used to reconstruct local, regional, and remote sources and transport pathways of pollutants to the QTP.
Terahertz (THz) imaging and optical coherence tomography (OCT) provide complementary information with similar length scales. In addition to OCT's extensive use in ophthalmology, both methods have ...shown some promise for other medical applications and non-destructive testing. In this paper, we present an iterative algorithm that combines the information from OCT and THz imaging at two different measurement locations within an object to determine both the depth of the reflecting layers at the two locations and the unknown refractive index of the medium for both the OCT wavelengths and THz frequencies. We validate this algorithm using a silicone test object with embedded layers and show that the depths and refractive index values obtained from the algorithm agreed with the measured values to within 3.3%. We further demonstrate for the first time that OCT and THz images can be co-registered and aligned using unsupervised image registration. Hence we show that a combined OCT/THz system can provide unique information beyond the capability of the separate modalities alone, with possible applications in the medical, industrial and pharmaceutical sectors.
We present a new global three‐dimensional chemical‐transport model (called MOZART) developed in the framework of the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM) and aimed at studying the distribution and ...budget of tropospheric ozone and its precursors. The model, developed with a horizontal resolution of 2.8° in longitude and latitude, includes 25 levels in the vertical between the Earth's surface and an upper boundary located at approximately 35 km altitude. In its present configuration the model calculates the global distribution of 56 chemical constituents with a timestep of 20 min, and accounts for surface emission and deposition, large‐scale advective transport, subscale convective and boundary layer exchanges, chemical and photochemical transformations, as well as wet scavenging. Transport is simulated “off line” from CCM with dynamical variables provided every 3 hours from preestablished history tapes. Advection is calculated using the semi‐Lagrangian transport scheme Rasch and Williamson, 1990 developed for the MATCH model of Rasch et al. 1997. Convective and boundary layer transports are expressed according to Hack 1994 and Holtslag and Boville 1993, respectively. A detailed evaluation of the model results is provided in a companion paper Hauglustaine et al., this issue. An analysis of the spatial and temporal variability in the chemical fields predicted by the model suggests that regional events such as summertime ozone episodes in polluted areas can be simulated by MOZART.
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