Spatiotemporal Trends in Episodic Ozone Pollution in the Lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia, in Relation to Mesoscale Atmospheric Circulation Patterns and Emissions

Abstract

Abstract A cluster analysis of wind measurements from two meteorological stations in the Lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada, has been performed to identify mesoscale circulation regimes that are common to days on which ozone mixing ratios at one or more measuring stations in the region’s fixed monitoring network exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Objective of 82 ppb. The analysis, using 20 yr of data (1984–2003), identifies the following four regimes: two with morning winds at the coastal Vancouver International Airport (YVR) meteorological station from the northwest direction and two with southerly YVR morning winds. Not all exceedance days are associated with sea-breeze circulations, but days with southerly morning winds have a higher proportion of well-developed sea-breeze circulations. Composite synoptic patterns associated with each regime all show high pressure over the eastern Pacific Ocean with a thermal trough over Washington State and southwestern British Columbia. Composite ozone patterns, corresponding to each mesoscale circulation regime and taken at the hour of maximum ozone concentration, show similar general features, including strong ozone titration in and around the urban source regions and higher values downwind. This suggests that precursor buildup, prior to the exceedance day, plays an important role in the spatial ozone pattern on exceedance days. A simple multiple linear regression of the plume centroid with the number of days elapsed from the start of the analysis period suggests the centroid of the ozone plume has shifted eastward since 1990. There also appears to be a north–south shift in the ozone plume. It is impossible to tell if these shifts are due to changes in emission levels or to changes in spatial emission patterns, because both changes have occurred over the study period.