Ground-level ozone in the Mekong Delta region: precursors, meteorological factors, and regional transport

The Mekong Delta region (MDR), also known as Vietnam's rice bowl, produced a bountiful harvest of about 23.8 million tons in 2020, accounting for 55.7% of the country's total production, providing food security for 20% of the world population. With the rapid pace of industrialisation and urbanisation, the concentration of ozone in the lower atmosphere has risen to a level that reduces crop yields, especially rice, and is therefore the subject of research. This study aims to simulate the spatiotemporal distribution of ground-level ozone in the area and evaluate the impact of precursor emissions and meteorological factors on the spatiotemporal distributions of ozone concentrations. The study area was divided into seven zones, including six agro-ecological zones (AEZs) and one low-mountainous area, mainly to clarify the role of emissions in each AEZ. The simulation results showed that ground-level O-3 in the MDR ranged from 40.39 to 52.13 mu g/m(3). In six agro-ecological zones, the average annual ground-level O-3 concentration was relatively high and was the highest in zone 6 (CPZ) and zone 3 (LXZ) with values of 96.18 mu g/m(3) (exceeding 1.60 times the WHO Guidelines 2021) and 94.86 mu g/m(3) (exceeding 1.58 times the WHO Guidelines 2021), respectively. In each zone, the annual average O-3 concentration tended to gradually increase from the inner delta to coastal areas. Two types of precursors, NOx and NMVOCs, are the main contributors to O-3 pollution, with the largest contribution coming from zone 1 (FAZ) with 91.5 thousand tons of NOx/year and 455.2 thousand tons of NMVOCs/year. Among the meteorological factors considered, temperature (7), relative humidity (RH), and surface pressure (P) were the three main factors that contributed to the increase in ground-level ozone. The spatio-temporal distribution of ground-level O-3 in the MDR was influenced by emission precursors from different zones as well as meteorological factors. The present results can help policy-makers formulate plans for agro-industrial development in the entire region.