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Near-surface ozone levels and trends at rural stations in France over the 1995–2003 period

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 156, pages 141–157 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

There is a considerable interest in quantifying near-surface ozone concentrations and associated trends, as they serve to define the impacts on ozone of the anthropogenic precursors reductions and to evaluate the effects of emission control strategies. A statistical test has been used to the ozone air concentrations measured in the French rural monitoring network stations, called MERA, in order to bring out spatio-temporal trends in air quality in France over the 1995–2003 period. The non-parametric Mann–Kendall test has been developed for detecting and estimating monotonic trends in the time series and applied in our study at annual values: mean, 98th percentile and median based on hourly averaged ozone concentrations and applied to daily maxima. In France, when averaged overall 9 stations between 1995 and 2003, a slight increasing trend of the O3 levels (+0.6 ± 1.3% year − 1) is observed, which is strongly influenced by the concentrations of the high altitude stations. In stations below 1000 m a mean rate of −0.48% year − 1 from annual average concentrations, of −0.45% year − 1 for medians and of +0.56% year − 1 for P.98 over the 1995–2003 period were obtained. In stations above 1,000 m a mean rate of +1.75% year − 1 from annual averages values, of +4.05% year − 1 for medians and of +2.55% year − 1 for P.98 were calculated over the 1997–2003 period. This situation is comparable to the one observed in other countries. In Europe and in France a reduction of precursor emissions is observed whereas a slight increasing trend of the O3 levels is observed over the 1995–2003 period. One reason is the non-linearity of chemical ozone production with respect to precursor emissions. Possible explanations are an increase in near-surface ozone values caused by a reduced ozone titration by reduced NO x , the meteorological parameters change, an increase in bio-geogenic compound concentrations, the intercontinental transport from North America and Asia and the influence of stratospheric–tropospheric exchanges. These possible explanations must be interpreted carefully as on the short time scales considered.

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  1. Département Chimie et Environnement, Ecole des Mines de Douai, 941 rue Charles Bourseul, BP 838, 59508, Douai, France

    Pierre Sicard, Patrice Coddeville & Jean-Claude Galloo

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  1. Pierre Sicard
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  2. Patrice Coddeville
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Correspondence to Pierre Sicard.

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Sicard, P., Coddeville, P. & Galloo, JC. Near-surface ozone levels and trends at rural stations in France over the 1995–2003 period. Environ Monit Assess 156, 141–157 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0470-8

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Keywords

  • Mann–Kendall test
  • Ozone
  • Rural area
  • Sen’s method
  • Spatial trend
  • Temporal trend