Measurements of surface ozone at semi-arid site Anantapur (14.62°N, 77.65°E, 331 m asl) in India

In the present study, an attempt has been made to examine the governing photochemical processes of surface ozone (O3) formation in rural site. For this purpose, measurements of surface ozone and selected meteorological parameters have been made at Anantapur (14.62°N, 77.65°E, 331 m asl), a semi-arid zone in India from January 2002 to December 2003. The annual average diurnal variation of O3 shows maximum concentration 46 ppbv at noon and minimum 25 ppbv in the morning with 1σ standard deviation. The average seasonal variation of ozone mixing ratios are observed to be maximum (about 60 ppbv) during summer and minimum (about 22 ppbv) in the monsoon period. The monthly daytime and nighttime average surface ozone concentration shows a maximum (55 ± 7 ppbv; 37 ± 7.3 ppbv) in March and minimum (28 ± 3.4 ppbv; 22 ± 2.3 ppbv) in August during the study period. The monthly average high (low) O3 48.9 ± 7.7 ppbv (26.2 ± 3.5 ppbv) observed at noon in March (August) is due to the possible increase in precursor gas concentration by anthropogenic activity and the influence of meteorological parameters. The rate of increase of surface ozone is high (1.52 ppbv/h) in March and lower (0.40 ppbv/h) in July. The average rate of increase of O3 from midnight to midday is 1 ppbv/h. Surface temperature is highest (43–44°C) during March and April months leading to higher photochemical production. On the other hand, relative humidity, which is higher during the rainy season, shows negative correlation with temperature and ozone mixing ratio. It can be seen that among the two parameters are measured, correlation of surface ozone with wind speed is better (R 2=0.84) in compare with relative humidity (R 2=0.66).