Process-based analysis of the role of the Gulf breeze in simulating ozone concentrations along the Eastern Gulf Coast

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the physical and chemical processes contributing to high 8-hour ozone concentrations along the eastern Gulf Coast (including Pensacola, Florida, Mobile, Alabama, and Pascagoula, Mississippi) during two multi-day ozone episodes. The process-based analysis of the formation, transport, and recirculation of ozone was performed as part of a regional-scale modeling analysis using the variable-grid Urban Airshed Model (UAM-V). Meteorological fields for application of the UAM-V modeling system were prepared using the Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5). The timing, extent, and vertical structure of the gulf breeze circulation and associated inland convergence zone are shown to affect the distribution and magnitude of the simulated ozone concentrations. The vertical resolution of the air quality model does not affect the relative importance of the simulation processes but does affect the surface-based simulated concentrations.