Lower Atmosphere

Basics

2. Ozone-smog in the troposphere

Worksheet 2

Ozone-smog in the troposphere is harmful for the people, who live there. But ozone-smog needs certain conditions in order to form. These conditions are often strongly influenced by humen, and therefore, it is possible to use our knowledge to minimize the risk of ozone-smog.

The graph shows the relative content of some air pollutants during a summer day.

• T1

Explain the causes of the peaks in the morning hours.

• T2

Which facts tell us that hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides are precursers of ozone?

This graph shows the maximum daily temperatures and the maximum daily content of ozone in air during August 2003 in Duisburg, Germany.

link addresses of sources:
 Umweltbundesamt und Bundesländer:  http://www.env-it.de/luftdaten/start.fwd
 jott grafik media - Thilo Heckermann:  http://www.wetter-duisburg.de

• T3

Compare the two graphs. What is conspicuous to you?

About this page:

Authors: M. Seesing, M. Tausch - Universität Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg / Germany
Scientific reviewing: Dr. Rolf von Kuhlmann, Max Planck Inst. for Chemistry, Mainz

Last update: 2004-05-13