A preliminary study of ozone trend and its impact on environment in Hong Kong

As far as the impact of air pollutants on human heath being is concerned, ozone (03) is one of the most pollutant sources, and, in particular, the ground level ozone is responsible for a variety of adverse effects on both human being and plant life. To protect the population from such adverse health effects, early information and precautions about the high ozone level need to be ascertained. In this study, statistical characteristics of ground level ozone is analyzed according to field monitoring data in mixed residential, commercial and industrial areas, e.g., Tsuen Wan area in Hong Kong. The study deals with the characteristics of hourly and daily mean ozone levels under different climatic conditions such as temperature, solar radiation (SR), wind speed (WS), and other pollutant concentration levels. The study aims to investigate the importance of meteorological factors and their impact on relevant pollutant concentration levels from a chemical aspect. Further, reasons for the spatial and temporal variation of ozone levels are discussed. All these results will provide a physical basis for accurately predicting ozone concentration in similar research. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.