Impacts of Soil NOx Emission on O3 Air Quality in Rural California

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are a key precursor in O-3 formation. Although stringent anthropogenic NOx emission controls have been implemented since the early 2000s in the United States, several rural regions of California still suffer from O-3 pollution. Previous findings suggest that soils are a dominant source of NOx emissions in California; however, a statewide assessment of the impacts of soil NOx emission (SNOx) on air quality is still lacking. Here we quantified the contribution of SNOx to the NOx budget and the effects of SNOx on surface O-3 in California during summer by using WRF-Chem with an updated SNOx scheme, the Berkeley Dalhousie Iowa Soil NO Parameterization (BDISNP). The model with BDISNP shows a better agreement with TROPOMI NO2 columns, giving confidence in the SNOx estimates. We estimate that 40.1% of the state's total NOx emissions in July 2018 are from soils, and SNOx could exceed anthropogenic sources over croplands, which accounts for 50.7% of NOx emissions. Such considerable amounts of SNOx enhance the monthly mean NO2 columns by 34.7% (53.3%) and surface NO2 concentrations by 176.5% (114.0%), leading to an additional 23.0% (23.2%) of surface O-3 concentration in California (cropland). Our results highlight the cobenefits of limiting SNOx to help improve air quality and human health in rural California.

Automated summary

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) remain a key precursor in O-3 formation despite stringent controls, with soils identified as a dominant source of NOx emissions in California. The study quantified the impact of soil NOx emissions (SNOx) on air quality, showing significant effects on NO2 columns and surface O-3 concentrations in rural areas. The findings underscore the importance of limiting SNOx to improve air quality and human health.