Elucidating key factors in regulating budgets of ozone and its precursors in atmospheric boundary layer

Abstract The vertical variations and key drivers of ozone and its precursors, namely NOx and VOCs, in the atmospheric boundary layer, have vital impacts on surface ozone budgets but are poorly understood so far. Using online gradient measurements from a 356 m tower, we obtained continuous vertical profiles of ozone and its precursors, which exhibited strong gradients throughout the day. In the daytime, the vertical gradients of ozone precursors are significantly regulated by reactions with OH radicals. At night, our observations confirmed more intense VOC reactions with NO3 radicals in the residual layer than in the boundary layer. Additionally, we found that residual layer entrainment could contribute to over half of the boundary-layer ozone enhancements in the morning periods. Our results underscore the importance of considering vertical changes of ozone and its precursors in the atmospheric boundary layer when developing future ozone mitigation strategies.