Smoke in the City: How Often and Where Does Smoke Impact Summertime Ozone in the United States?

We investigate the influence of smoke on ozone (O-3) abundances over the contiguous United States. Using colocated observations of particulate matter and the National Weather Service Hazard Mapping System smoke data, we identify summertime days between 2005 and 2014 that Environmental Protection Agency Air Quality System O-3 monitors are influenced by smoke. We compare O-3 mixing ratio distributions for smoke-free and smoke-impacted days for each monitor, while controlling for temperature. This analysis shows that (i) the mean O-3 abundance measured on smoke impacted days is higher than on smoke-free days, and (ii) the magnitude of the effect varies by location with a range of 3 to 36 ppbv. For each site, we present the percentage of days when the 8-h average O-3 mixing ratio (MDA8) exceeds 75 ppbv and smoke is present. Smoke-impacted O-3 mixing ratios are most elevated in locations with the highest emissions of nitrogen oxides. The Northeast corridor, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Birmingham, and Kansas City stand out as having smoke present 10-20% of the days when 8-h average O-3 mixing ratios exceed 75 ppbv. Most U.S. cities maintain a similar proportion of smoke-impacted exceedance days when they are held against the new MDA8 limit of 70 ppbv.