Surface ozone trends at El Arenosillo observatory from a new perspective

Surface ozone trends observed at El Arenosillo observatory for the last 22 years (2000-2021) were investigated. The trends for daily averages and daily 5th and 95th percentiles were 1.2 ± 0.3 ppb decade^-1, 2.2 ± 0.3 ppb decade^-1 and -0.03 ± 0.43 ppb decade^-1, respectively, thus showing a significant increase of background ozone. The surface temperature trends were also explored, obtaining trends of 0.5 ± 0.2 ⁰C decade^-1, 1.1 ± 0.2 ⁰C decade^-1 and -0.3 ± 0.2 ⁰C decade^-1 for daily averages, 5th and 95th percentiles, respectively. To identify potential changes in the ozone drivers, the weather pattern shifts were analyzed through the horizontal distribution trends of temperature at 2 m and geopotential height at 850 hPa. A strengthening of the Azores anticyclone and a regional warming were detected, which could contribute to the ozone trends obtained. The surface ozone trend in every month was explored, identifying a monthly pattern, with remarkable opposite trends in December-January (2.4 ± 0.9 ppb decade^-1) vs July-August (-0.5 ± 1.1 ppb decade^-1). The surface ozone trends for every hour of the day were also explored, identifying two clear patterns. The first pattern occurred from spring to autumn and was characterized by a behavior opposite to the typical daily ozone cycle. The second pattern was observed in winter, and it shows two relative peaks in the ozone trends (around 13:00 and 19:00 UTC). In a context of ozone precursor's depletion, changes in the weather conditions and warmer climate, to improve our knowledge of the ozone trends, we suggest exploring them based on daily and hourly averages.