Rethinking the Ozone Problem in Urban and Regional Air Pollution

Despite more than 20 years of regulatory efforts, concern is widespread that ozone pollution in the lower atmosphere, or troposphere, threatens the health of humans, animals, and vegetation.

This book discusses how scientific information can be used to develop more effective regulations to control ozone. Rethinking the Ozone Problem in Urban and Regional Air Pollution discusses:The latest data and analysis on how tropospheric ozone is formed. How well our measurement techniques are functioning. Deficiencies in efforts to date to control the problem. Approaches to reducing ozone precursor emissions that hold the most promise. What additional research is needed. With a wealth of technical information, the book discusses atmospheric chemistry, the role of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ozone formation, monitoring and modeling the formation and transport processes, and the potential contribution of alternative fuels to solving the tropospheric ozone problem.

The committee discusses criteria for designing more effective ozone control efforts. Because of its direct bearing on decisions to be made under the Clean Air Act, this book should be of great interest to environmental advocates, industry, and the regulatory community as well as scientists, faculty, and students. Table of ContentsFront MatterExecutive Summary1 What Is the Problem?2 Trends In Tropospheric Concentration of Ozone3 Criteria For Designing and Evaluating Ozone Reduction Strategies4 The Effects of Meteorology on Tropospheric Ozone5 Atmospheric Chemistry of Ozone and Its Precursors6 VOCs and NOx: Relationship to Ozone and AssociatedPollutants7 Techniques For Measurement of Reactive Nitrogen Oxides, VolatileOrganic Compunds, and Oxidants8 Atmospheric Observations of VOCs, NOx, and Ozone9 Emmission Inventories10 Ozone Air-Quality Models11 VOC Versus NOx Controls12 Alternative Fuels13 Tropospheric Ozone and Global Change14 A Research Program on Tropospheric OzoneReferencesIndex