On the temporal and spatial variation of ozone in Cyprus

More than sixteen years (1997-2013) of continuous ozone concentrations at the rural Agia Marina (EMEP, 532 ma.s.l.) station in Cyprus, together with a number of ancillary chemical and meteorological parameters have been analyzed on a multiannual, annual and diurnal basis. The observations reveal a) the presence of a prominent seasonality with maxima observed during summer (54±5 ppbv) and the minima in winter (39±3 ppbv) b) a relatively small diurnal variability with the noon levels (50±9 ppbv) being higher by ~4 pbbv compared to nighttime (46±9 ppbv) and c) a non-significant upward trend over the 16 years of 0.11±0.12 ppbv y(-1). To assess the spatial variability over Cyprus, simultaneous measurements in 2011-2012 have been performed at Inia, Stavrovouni and Cavo Greco, three remote marine monitoring sites located to the west, central and the east of the Island, respectively. Our results show that ambient ozone levels over Cyprus are mostly influenced by regional/transported ozone while the local precursor emissions play a minor role in ozone formation. On an annual basis a net ozone reduction of 1.5 and 1.0 ppbv occurs when the air masses originate from northerly and westerly directions, respectively, while this is 2.4 ppbv during southerly wind. This suggests continuous net ozone loss controlled by surface deposition and photochemical destruction, and highlights the importance of long-range transport in controlling ozone levels in Cyprus.