Long-term ozone variability in the vertical structure and integrated column over the North China Plain: results based on ozonesonde and Dobson measurements during 2001–2019

Abstract Ozonesonde launches were routinely performed in Beijing from March 2001 to February 2019 to generate a unique long-term (18 years) vertical ozone profile dataset over mainland China. This study elucidates the vertical ozone structure on various temporal scales during this 18 years period by using the entire ozonesonde data product for the first time. Moreover, the long-term variability in the integrated ozone column over the North China Plain (NCP) is also explored by comparing the retrievals from ozonesonde at the Beijing urban site and a Dobson ozone spectrometer at the Xianghe suburban site. Our results indicate that vertical ozone exhibited clear monthly variability characterized by high values of tropospheric ozone during warm seasons and high values of stratospheric ozone during cold seasons. Stratospheric intrusions frequently occurred during spring and effectively transported cold air masses with high ozone from the lower stratosphere downward into the upper troposphere. Evident interannual variability in the lower troposphere and in ozone-rich areas of the stratosphere was revealed by vertical ozone distributions. The integrated total ozone columns retrieved from ozonesonde and Dobson bear close resemblance and exhibit strong sinusoidal monthly variations. In the troposphere and boundary layer, the integrated ozone column presented a significant positive trend during 2001–2012 in Beijing; a sudden decline occurred between 2011 and 2013, which was followed by a slow and insignificant increase after the implementation of the Clean Air Action plan in 2013 on the NCP.