Based on the 181 tropical cyclones data in the western North Pacific Ocean from 2015 to 2020, hourly ozone (O3) concentration data, and meteorological observation data of 18 cities and counties in Hainan Island, this study analyzed the impacts of tropical cyclones on ozone pollution in Hainan Island. We found that 40 (22.1%) tropical cyclones experienced O3 pollution in Hainan Island during the lifetime of tropical cyclones in the past six years. During the years with more tropical cyclones, more O3- polluted days occurred in Hainan Island. Highly polluted days, which were defined as more than or equal to three cities and counties exceeding the standard, were the most serious in 2019 with 39 (54.9%) polluted days. The tropical cyclones related to high pollution (HP) showed an increasing trend, with the trend coefficient and climatic trend rate of 0.725 (exceeding the 95% significance level) and 0.667 a-1, respectively. Tropical cyclone intensity was positively correlated with the maximum 8 h moving average (O3-8h) concentration in Hainan Island. Among them, HP-type tropical cyclones accounted for 35.4% of all samples in the typhoon (TY) intensity level. Cluster analysis of tropical cyclone paths showed that tropical cyclones from the South China Sea (type A) were the most common of the 67 (37%) and were the most likely to cause large-scale and high-concentration O3 pollution events in Hainan Island. The average number of HP tropical cyclones and ρ(O3-8h) of Hainan Island in type A were 7 and 121.90 μg·m-3, respectively. In addition, the tropical cyclone centers were located generally in the middle part of the South China Sea and the western Pacific Ocean near the Bashi Strait during the HP period. The change in meteorological conditions in Hainan Island under the influence of HP tropical cyclones was conducive to the increase in O3 concentration.
Keywords: Hainan; cluster analysis; correlation analysis; ozone (O3); tropical cyclone.