Ozone Levels Associated to the Photochemical Smog in Santiago of Chile. the Elusive Rol of Hydrocarbons

Santiago of Chile presents, in autumn and summer, high levels of oxidants and, in particular of ozone. Peculiar features of this phenomenon are a strong dependence of the contamination with the daily maxima temperature and a weekend effect, comprising relatively high ozone levels in spite of reduced emissions of its precursors. A common explanation of these effects could be an increase in the VOCs/NOx ratio. In order to test this possibility we perform la multiparametric analysis of Santiago s historical data. This data treatment corroborates a robust dependence of maxima ozone levels with temperature and a moderate weekend effect. In fact, ozone levels in weekend days are similar to those of working days, in spite of significantly reduced primary emissions (29 % of NOx and 20 % of CO). However, no increase in VOC s/NOx ratios, measured at the early morning rush out hours, is observed in high temperature days. On the other hand, the data suggest a moderate increase of the VOCs/NOx ratio in week ends. This would indicate that other factors beyond a simple increase in VOC s levels contribute to the above mentioned peculiarities of oxidant levels in the urban atmosphere of Santiago.