Abstract
The chemical and meteorological effects on the concentration variations of ozone ($O_3$) were evaluated based on the intensive air quality measurement (5 pollutants and aromatic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs)) in and out-side an urban valley during spring and summer of 2006. The 5 pollutants measured in the study area include $O_3$, $NO_2$, NO, $PM_{10}$, and CO; the AVOCs include benzene (BEN), toluene (TOL), ethylbenzene (EB), m,p-xylene (MPX), and o-xylene (OX). For the purpose of this study, study areas were classified into two categories: valley area (VA) with a semi-closed topography covering a number of industrial complex, public building, and mountains and non-valley area (NVA) surrounding the suburban and residential areas. In general, the mean concentration levels of most pollutants (except for $PM_{10}$) in the VA were higher than those in the NVA. It was found that the average $O_3$ increase in the VA during spring might result from the combined effects such as the photochemical production from diverse anthropogenic sources and the $O_3$ accumulation due to geographical features (e.g., the semi-closed topography) and wind conditions (e.g., a low wind speed). In addition, the nocturnal $O_3$ increase in the VA during spring was primarily caused by local wind conditions (e.g., mountain and valley winds) with the low wind speed (approximately $1{\sim}2\;m\;s^{-1}$). On the other hand, the $O_3$ difference between the two areas during summer might be because of the photo-chemical production with the $O_3$ precursors (especially the AVOCs) rather than the contribution of wind conditions.
