URBAN OZONE AND ITS PRECURSORS - RELIABLE MEASUREMENTS AND ROBUST STATISTICS ARE PREREQUISITES FOR MORE EFFECTIVE OZONE CONTROL

In urban areas, man-made emissions are overwhelmingly dominant over natural ozone sources. This article addresses the ozone problems of urban areas, emphasizing three important issues. The first concerns the form and level of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS); which directly affects the achievability of the standard, as well as confidence in its attainment. The second issue encompasses the trend in ozone concentrations, which is a measure of the effectiveness of existing ozone control strategies. The third entails the control strategies whose failure may reflect a deficiency in the understanding of the ozone problem or in the implementation of the strategies themselves.