We report observations from space using ultraviolet (UV) radiance for significant enhancement of ozone in the lower troposphere over Central and Eastern China (CEC). The recent retrieval products of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard the Earth Observing System (EOS)/Aura satellite revealed the spatial and temporal variation of ozone distributions in multiple layers in the troposphere. We compared the OMI-derived ozone over Beijing with airborne measurements by the Measurement of Ozone and Water Vapor by Airbus In-Service Aircraft (MOZAIC) program. The correlation between OMI and MOZAIC ozone in the lower troposphere was reasonable, which assured the reliability of OMI ozone retrievals in the lower troposphere under enhanced ozone conditions. The ozone enhancement was clearly observed over CEC, with Shandong Province as its center, and most notable in June in any given year. Similar seasonal variations were observed throughout the nine-year OMI measurement period of 2005 to 2013. The ozone enhancement in June was associated with the enhancement of carbon monoxide (CO) and hotspots, which is consistent with previous studies of in-situ measurements such those made by the MTX2006 campaign. A considerable part of this ozone enhancement could be attributed to the emissions of ozone precursors from open crop residue burning (OCRB) after the winter wheat harvest, in addition to emissions from industrial activities and automobiles. The ozone distribution presented in this study is also consistent with some model studies that apply emissions from OCRB. The lower tropospheric ozone distribution is first shown from OMI retrieval in this study, and the results will be useful in clarifying any unknown factors that influence ozone distribution by comparison with model simulations.
