Severe ozone air pollution in the Persian Gulf region 1Energy,
Environment and Water Research Centre, The Cyprus Institute, 20
Kavafi Street, 1645 Nicosia, Cyprus 2Max Planck Institute for
Chemistry, Becherweg 27, 55128 Mainz, Germany 3Observatoire
Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS – Laboratoire d'Aérologie, 14 Avenue E.
Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France Abstract. Recently it was
discovered that over the Middle East during summer ozone mixing
ratios can reach a pronounced maximum in the middle troposphere.
Here we extend the analysis to the surface and show that
especially in the Persian Gulf region conditions are highly
favorable for ozone air pollution. We apply the EMAC atmospheric
chemistry-climate model to investigate long-distance transport
and the regional formation of ozone. Further, we make use of
available in situ and satellite measurements and compare these
with model output. The results indicate that the region is a hot
spot of photochemical smog where European Union air quality
standards are violated throughout th