Spatiotemporal variations of tropospheric ozone in Spain (2008-2019).

This study aims to support the development of Spain's Ozone Mitigation Plan by evaluating the present-day spatial variation (2015-2019) and trends (2008-2019) for seven ground-level ozone (O) metrics relevant for human/ecosystems exposure and regulatory purposes. Results indicate that the spatial variation of O depends on the part of the O distribution being analyzed. Metrics associated with moderate O concentrations depict an increasing O gradient between the northern and Mediterranean coasts due to climatic factors, while for metrics considering the upper end of the O distribution, this climatic gradient tends to attenuate in favor of hotspot regions pointing to relevant local/regional O formation.

A new NMVOC speciated inventory for a reactivity-based approach to support ozone control strategies in Spain.

Ozone (O) pollution is a persistent problem in many regions of Spain, so understanding O precursor emissions and trends is essential to design effective control strategies. We estimated the impact of Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compounds (NMVOC) species upon O formation potential (OFP) using the maximum incremental reactivity approach. For this, we developed a speciated NMVOC emission inventory for Spain from 2010 to 2019 combining national reported emissions with state-of-the-art speciation profiles, which resulted in a database of emissions for over 900 individual NMVOC species and 153 individual sectors.

Multi-sectoral impact assessment of an extreme African dust episode in the Eastern Mediterranean in March 2018.

In late March 2018, a large part of the Eastern Mediterranean experienced an extraordinary episode of African dust, one of the most intense in recent years, here referred to as the "Minoan Red" event. The episode mainly affected the Greek island of Crete, where the highest aerosol concentrations over the past 15 yeas were recorded, although impacts were also felt well beyond this core area. Our study fills a gap in dust research by assessing the multi-sectoral impacts of sand and dust storms and their socioeconomic implications.

To what extent the traffic restriction policies applied in Barcelona city can improve its air quality?

Barcelona city (Spain) is applying a series of traffic restriction measures that aim at renewing and reducing the amount of circulating vehicles to improve air quality. The measures include changes in the built environment to reduce private vehicle space in specific areas through the so-called "superblocks" and tactical urban planning actions, along with the implementation of a city-wide Low Emission Zone (LEZ) that restricts the entry of the most polluting vehicles to the city. Our study quantifies the impact of these measures in the greater area of Barcelona combining a coupled macroscopic traffic and pollutant emission model with a multi-scale air quality model.

Understanding the local and remote source contributions to ambient O during a pollution episode using a combination of experimental approaches in the Guadalquivir valley, southern Spain.

The Guadalquivir Valley is one of three major O hotspots in Spain. An airborne and surface measurement campaign was carried out from July 9th to 11th, 2019 to quantify the local/regional O contributions using experimental approaches. Air quality and meteorology data from surface measurements, a microlight aircraft, a helium balloon, and remote sensing data (TROPOMI-NO2-ESA) were used to obtain the 3D distribution of O and various tracer pollutants.