Impact of Marine Shipping Emissions on Ozone Pollution During the Warm Seasons in China

Abstract As China's land‐based anthropogenic emissions are decreasing, the impact of marine shipping emissions (MSEs) on the atmosphere, especially in coastal areas, deserves further attention. This study investigates the impact of MSEs on MDA8 ozone (O 3 ) levels during the warm seasons of 2017 in China, considering different seasons and synoptic patterns. The results indicate that the average impact of MSEs on O 3 decreases from offshore to inland, peaking at over 29.0 ppb at sea and 13.8 ppb along the coast of mainland China. Influenced by precursor emissions, meteorology and other factors, MSEs contribute differently to O 3 in Beijing‐Tianjin‐Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Pearl River Delta (PRD), with contributions of 3.0, 5.2, and 4.9 ppb, respectively, and ranging from 2.7 to 7.3 ppb in 13 coastal port cities. The O 3 impacts of MSEs are higher on polluted days than on clean days, especially during onshore winds. In the BTH, MSEs increase O 3 by 5.5 ppb on polluted days and 3.0 ppb on clean days with northeast winds from the Bohai Sea. In the YRD, MSEs increase O 3 by 9.4 ppb on polluted days and 7.3 ppb on clean days with southeast winds. MSEs significantly increase O 3 levels in the PRD by 11.0 ppb on polluted days and 5.0 ppb on clean days with southeast winds. Although the emission inventories, initial and boundary conditions, etc. may introduce uncertainties, our results still provide useful information for O 3 pollution management in coastal cities as a reasonable way to track mass contributions.