Dry Deposition of Ozone Over Land: Processes, Measurement, and Modeling
Citation:
Clifton, O., A. Fiore, W. Massman, C. Baublitz, M. Coyle, L. Emberson, S. Fares, D. Farmer, P. Gentine, G. Gerosa, A. Guenther, D. Helmig, D. Lombardozzi, J. Munger, E. Patton, S. Pusede, D. Schwede, S. Silva, M. Sörgel, A. Steiner, AND A. Tai. Dry Deposition of Ozone Over Land: Processes, Measurement, and Modeling. REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 58(1):e2019RG000670, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019RG000670
Impact/Purpose:
The removal of tropospheric ozone at Earth's surface (often called dry deposition) is important for our understanding of air pollution, ecosystem health, and climate. Several processes contribute to dry deposition of ozone. While we have basic knowledge of these processes, we lack the ability to robustly estimate changes in ozone dry deposition through time and from one place to another. Here we review ozone deposition processes, measurements, and modeling, and propose steps necessary to close gaps in understanding. A major conclusion revealed by our review is that most deposition processes can be fairly well described from a theoretical standpoint, but the relative importance of the various processes remains uncertain. We suggest that progress can be made by establishing multiyear measurements of ozone dry deposition at a limited set of sites around the world and coordinating these measurements with laboratory and field experiments that can be integrated with theory through carefully designed modeling studies.
Description:
Dry deposition of ozone is an important sink of ozone in near surface air. When dry deposition occurs through plant stomata, ozone can injure the plant, altering water and carbon cycling and reducing crop yields. Quantifying both stomatal and nonstomatal uptake accurately is relevant for understanding ozone's impact on human health as an air pollutant and on climate as a potent short‐lived greenhouse gas and primary control on the removal of several reactive greenhouse gases and air pollutants. Robust ozone dry deposition estimates require knowledge of the relative importance of individual deposition pathways, but spatiotemporal variability in nonstomatal deposition is poorly understood. Here we integrate understanding of ozone deposition processes by synthesizing research from fields such as atmospheric chemistry, ecology, and meteorology. We critically review methods for measurements and modeling, highlighting the empiricism that underpins modeling and thus the interpretation of observations. Our unprecedented synthesis of knowledge on deposition pathways, particularly soil and leaf cuticles, reveals process understanding not yet included in widely‐used models. If coordinated with short‐term field intensives, laboratory studies, and mechanistic modeling, measurements from a few long‐term sites would bridge the molecular to ecosystem scales necessary to establish the relative importance of individual deposition pathways and the extent to which they vary in space and time. Our recommended approaches seek to close knowledge gaps that currently limit quantifying the impact of ozone dry deposition on air quality, ecosystems, and climate.
