Improving photochemical indicators for attributing ozone sensitivities in source apportionment analysis

Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions(CAMx)-Decoupled Direct Method(DDM)simulations of first-order ozone(O_(3))sensitivity to nitrogen oxides(NO_(x))and volatile organic compounds(VOCs)emissions were performed and combined with modelled P_(H_(2)O_(2))/P_(HNO_(3))ratios to obtain a range of thresholds for determining O_(3)-sensitivity regimes for different areas of China.Utilising the new threshold ranges for photochemical indicators,the method for determining O_(3)formation in the Ozone Source Apportionment Technology(OSAT)module within CAMx was improved by a dynamically varied threshold of P_(H_(2)O_(2))/P_(HNO_(3))ratio.The O_(3)concentration contributions in the newly added transition regime were apportioned to NO_(x)and VOCs emissions in proportion to the relationship between the P_(H_(2)O_(2))/P_(HNO_(3))ratio and first-order O_(3)sensitivity.The source contributions of O_(3)concentrations from different emission sectors from June to September 2019 were compared using the original and improved CAMx-OSAT.The results showed that the O_(3)concentration contributions changed significantly in the NO_(x)-limited regime,with a maximum decrease of 21.89%,while the contributions increased by up to 7.57%in the VOC-limited regime,and were within 15μg/m^(3)in the transition regime.The modified OSAT module enabled a more sophisticated attribution of O_(3)to precursor emissions and may have far-reaching implications for informing O_(3)pollution control policy.