A study of ozone variation trend within area of affecting human health in Hong Kong

As far as the impact of air pollutants on human heath being concerned, ozone is one of the main pollutants in atmosphere. In particular, the ground level ozone is responsible for a variety of adverse effects on both human being and plant life. To protect the humankind from such adverse health effects, early information and precautions of high ozone level need to be supplied in times. In this study, statistical characteristics of ground level ozone is analyzed according to the field monitoring data in mixed residential, commercial and industrial areas, e.g., Tsuen Wan area in Hong Kong. The study deals with the characteristics of hourly and daily mean ozone levels under different climatic conditions such as temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, and other pollutant concentration levels. The study aims to investigate the importance of meteorological factors and their impact on relevant pollutant concentration levels from chemical aspect. Further, reasons causing the spatial and temporal variations of ozone levels are discussed. All these results will provide a physical basis for accurately predicting ozone concentration in extensive, future research. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.