THE SENSITIVITY OF OZONE TO NITROGEN-OXIDES AND HYDROCARBONS IN REGIONAL OZONE EPISODES

We examine the sensitivity of ozone concentrations in rural areas of the United States to emissions of NOx and hydrocarbons using a regional photochemical model. Ozone production in rural areas appears to be limited by the availability of NOx. Rural ozone is strongly dependent on emission rates for NOx but is almost independent of hydrocarbons. This relationship is quite different from that in urban air, where ozone levels depend on both NOx and hydrocarbons. The predicted relationship between ozone and nitrogen oxides appears to be consistent with observations in rural air. -from Authors